(TNS) – A major road construction project is just days away from completion and several more are underway for 2021.
Then there are the traffic signs.
Berry Mattox with the South Carolina Department of Transportation updated planning and elected officials earlier this month on a variety of road projects in the urbanized counties of York and Lancaster. The projects cover Rock Hill, Fort Mill, Indian Land and other locations served by the Rock Hill-Fort Mill Area Transportation Study.
Mattox said his department has received several calls for an improvement that has already been made.
Adaptive traffic signs have been installed since August at seven intersections along Sutton Road SC 160 corridor to US 21 at Fort Mill. Smart signals are on both sides of the SC 160 interchange on I-77.
“They were installed,” said Mattox. “They are operational. We think this will help.”
Smart signals react in real time to traffic conditions, so they can skip signals or have longer green lights. A green light to turn left from Kingsley may, for example, come more often or last longer during rush hour than out of hours. More intense traffic in Baxter can cause a longer traffic light towards the interstate in the morning than in the early afternoon.
The idea is to keep as much traffic moving as often as possible. Drivers noticed the change. Hence the calls.
“Signal phasing is not always what you expect,” said Mattox. “They make decisions that are different from what you’re used to.”
Mattox said the calls are proof that almost $ 490,000 in signal updates are working. SCDOT will get a better picture when full traffic resumes after the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency can adjust the signals as needed.
David Hooper, RFATS administrator, said that smart signals are useful not just in the morning and evening rush hour. They also help, he said, at lunch.
“This is also a time of severe congestion,” he said.
The Kingsley and Baxter areas in particular may experience traffic problems, especially with the large and growing job base in Kingsley.
“We heard several times that they couldn’t even go to Chick-fil-A and be back in an hour,” said Mattox.
Along with the traffic lights, there are several other major construction projects in progress:
– The $ 160 million expansion of the SC 160 in Lancaster County is just days away from completion. Blythe Development Co. is the contractor. The completion is scheduled for December 1. Mattox said there may be some small details that linger, such as a traffic light that can take a few weeks. The project must be fully concluded by the end of the year.
“It has had its fair share of delays,” said Mattox.
SC 160 will be extended from Possum Hollow Road to the York County line at Sugar Creek. There will be five runs from Possum Hollow to Rosemont Drive and three runs from Rosemont to Sugar Creek. There will be an additional travel lane in each direction, in addition to a central lane, compared to the road before construction.
– The exchange on I-77 and SC 160 is listed as a $ 76 million project. York County applied for and received money from the state bank for infrastructure ($ 49.6 million) for the Fort Mill project. SCDOT held a public meeting in January and decided on a directional exchange option with two bridge crossings over the interstate. The extension of the SC 160 from Sutton Road to US 21 is included.
The right of way should end next year. Construction funds are expected to be available by 2022. The work would then be auctioned off before construction.
“We are on schedule to start construction in the summer until the fall of 2022,” said Mattox.
– The other trade-off to obtain financing from the infrastructure bank through the county application is I-77 and Cherry Road / Celanese Road in Rock Hill. It involves improvements to outputs 82A, B and C. The $ 38.49 million project still has no set schedule. Of the total, more than $ 32 million comes from the infrastructure bank and the county’s local mail parcel.
The Rock Hill switch will take place after the Fort Mill works, which could mean costs “well above” what transportation leaders now list, Hooper said.
“We have to assume that the total cost of the project will be higher,” he said.
– Works on the Celanese and India Hook roads at Rock Hill are due to begin construction next year. The $ 7.63 million project will add and increase conversion ranges at the intersection. The right of way is now complete. Construction funds are expected to be available in April. Construction bids would follow in June.
The project schedule is similar to SCDOT work on Pleasant Road and Carowinds in Fort Mill, and on US 521 and Marvin Road in Indian Land.
“They are all on the same schedule,” said Mattox.
– Pleasant and Carowinds’ intersection work was intentionally delayed by SCDOT’s work due to other projects in the area, such as the ongoing exchange reconfiguration on I-77 and Gold Hill Road. SCDOT wanted to allow traffic routes that would avoid construction areas. With the drop in traffic from COVID-19, this delay may not have been necessary.
“In fact, we would probably be fine,” said Mattox.
The works are expected to go to construction bidding in June 2021. More capacity of conversion range will be added to the intersection. The project is now listed at $ 2.1 million, but Mattox said that amount will increase.
– A $ 1.86 million project to add a conversion strip on Clebourne and North White streets in Fort Mill is almost complete. Cherokee, Inc. is the contractor. The end date is December 31st. The lane to the right of Clebourne for US 21 Business will improve traffic at one of the main bottlenecks in the city center.
– The intersection works on US 521 and Marvin Road are expected to be tendered next spring. The $ 3.64 million project had schedule delays. The construction budget of more than $ 2.8 million is about five times the initial value of the reserved space. The right of way is closed. Construction resources are expected to be ready in March and construction tenders in May. Construction is expected to begin in the summer of 2021.
A new conversion lane on the left to the south and right on Marvin is part of the project, along with updated road signs.
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