Construction crews are busy with repairs to the bridge where SC Highway 9 crosses the Broad River between Chester and Union counties at the Town of Lockhart. The crumbling condition of the 70 year old bridge puts a new spotlight on the poor condition of the state’s roads and bridges. The state Department of Transportation (DOT) will soon have funding for a new SC 9 bridge thanks to the state legislature which authorized a $4 Billion dollar, ten year roads spending plan during this year’s legislative session.
That includes over $2 billion dollars in new funding. DOT plans to spend about a billion dollars to fix or replace 400 sub-standard bridges like the Lockhart Bridge. Some $2 Billion dollars will be spent on alleviating congestion at nine Interstate highway choke points across the state. But while the additional billions of dollars for the next 10 years is a real boost for DOT, officials say there are still huge funding needs for state roads