FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – A proposed ordinance that was heard by the Florence City Council on Monday calls on the city to provide nearly $300,000 for two resurfacing projects. Timrod and Yellowstone Drives were selected for repair.
Today, we spoke with City Manager Drew Griffin about the selection process. He says the city has a rating system that they use to determine which roads are in dire need of repair. They also say there’s not enough money to fix all roads.
“The state has a rating allocation that we apply and it is both subjective and quantitative. It’s subjective in the sense that you’re looking at the road, you’re evaluating the condition of the road,” said Griffin. “But there’s also quantitative pieces to it as well that relate to how many potholes, a certain distance, what is the true physical condition of the road.”
Typically, roads have a lifespan of about 20-30 years. They eventually start to deteriorate and form potholes. The city then responds to those areas to cut those bad spots out, put in proper fill, and put asphalt on top of it. In order to request that a road be repaired, residents either call the city or the transportation committee. But due to limited funding, not all requests can be fulfilled.
Griffin also says the city is working on 5 Hurricane Matthew-related projects. But due to a lack of funding and other circumstances, such as being in remote locations, they can’t get to those projects just yet. Most of those projects involve flooding and dam breaks that washed away roads. Griffin says when those dams broke, they took out some utility infrastructure.
“Country Club of South Carolina lost their dam. There was a road associated with that that I believe is a D.O.T road. But the dam which is privately owned has to be rebuilt prior to that road being replaced,” Griffin explained. He went on to say some water lines in that section were washed away. Now the city is waiting for the dam to be built before they put the water lines back.
