Road Study Early Reports Raise Some Concerns
Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
In June of 2023, Anderson County Council approved $337,000 for a detailed evaluation of all of the county’s 1,534 miles by the Roadway Asset Services (RAS) group.
Using a specially modified vehicle, the group drove every mile of Anderson County maintained roads to measure pavement conditions and to determine which roads are viable with minor repairs, which need some repair, and which need digging up and replacing.
The results of the study, which was delayed due to weather, are now coming in, and the findings offered a road map for what needs to be done.
First, 380 miles of county roads, representing one-fourth of county roads, are in poor or failing conditions. These roads will require $38 million to repair and replace. Another 200 miles are on the edge of poor condition, and without sufficient maintenance will fall into this category within the next couple of years, which would put close to 40 percent of the roads for which the county is responsible in jeopardy.
More than a third of the county’s 157 bridges are load restricted, meaning fire trucks, school buses and other heavy vehicles cannot traverse the structures. Recent bridge repair work on small and average structures have averaged between $1-2 million.
The current annual budget for county roads is zero dollars for paving, and $375,000 for potholes and minor patching. The county also receives $2 million annually from the “C” funds, which is a small portion, about $98 million of the state’s $3 billion gasoline tax distributed among the state’s 46 counties based on population and road use.
The remainder of the state gas tax funds, $2.92 billion, is used on state road maintenance. Anderson County has roughly 1,800 miles of state roads, which are currently being maintained at the pace of about 100 miles per year.
The result is the current $2.375 million in total annual funding for Anderson County roads and bridges has led to difficult decisions prioritizing use of funds, and the neglect of many road/bridges projects which have been waiting for years.
Roads remain the top concern of citizens, according to council members and the county administrator. Council gave final approval Tuesday to send a penny sales tax to voters asking them to fully fund road work on county roads, something which has not happened in the history of the county.
If approved, the tax should generate between $40-50 million annually, allowing Anderson County to make up for decades of budgets which left out the expensive road/bridge repair and maintenance.
One study, completed in December, suggests that $16 million of that funding would be generated by visitors to Anderson County.
“It’s good to remind citizens that 35-40 percent of this money would be from out-of-county and out-of-state people,” said Council Vice Chairman Brett Sanders.. “I hope we can make sure people understand this.”
The full results of the roads study should be released before the end of January. Anderson County Roads and Bridges Manager Matt Hogan, talked about the study, and road funding, in this interview with the Anderson Observer.