Road Priorities, Map Set for March Release

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

The study of every mile of Anderson’s 1,534 miles of county-owned roads is complete and results have found almost half of the roads are already in poor, failing or already failed condition.

The results are being sorted to offer details of road conditions countywide, and the information will be available to the public in March on an interactive online map.

The county will also release a list of priorities on roads and bridges which need repair based on condition, and/or how long a road has been left on a waiting list for maintenance.

The cost of repair/maintenance/replacement of a road is between $800,000-$1 million per mile, and the county needs close to $40 million annually to properly service all roads and bridges and work through repairs on the backlog of repairs left unattended due to lack of funding.

A November referendum will ask county voters to approve a one-penny sales tax to fund the efforts. Currently the county has less than $350,000 budgeted annually to take care of potholes and minor repairs. Zero dollars are in the paving budget, and the portion of state gas tax funds appropriates less than $2 million annually for use specifically on county-maintained roads.

Anderson County Roads and Bridges Manager Matt Hogan, said the latest information, including the priority list of roads/bridges repairs/paving/maintenance, is being translated into citizen-friendly format and is scheduled to be available in March.