Officials with the South Carolina Department of Transportation announced that the agency received a grant award of $720,000 from USDOT for bridge planning along I-95 over the Great Pee Dee River. Secretary of Transportation Christy A. Hall, P.E. said, “This is another example of the SCDOT maximizing an opportunity to bring federal dollars to South Carolina to address the priorities of South Carolinians. We continue our vigorous planning and programming efforts to align federal dollars to meet our state priorities.” The grant proposal included planning projects for rehabilitating or replacing 12 rural bridges along the I-95 corridor in Marion and Dillon counties. Over the past five years, the SCDOT has spent approximately $15 million in repairs to this infrastructure. In addition to routine maintenance and upkeep, these bridges have been impacted by regional flooding events. This portion of I-95 is a major hurricane evacuation route for residents and visitors along the coast.
In addition to improving the safety of the corridor, these projects will help improve the road network in the area, allowing the movement of freight from the Port to the Inland Port in Dillon and continuing across the region. This project will further the mission of the SCDOT’s Strategic 10-Year Plan goals to improve rural road safety and rehabilitate or replace 500 bridges.