Palmetto Parkway still ahead of schedule

The second phase of Palmetto Parkway should be open for traffic by the end of October, two months ahead of schedule, according to Allen Wertz, project manager for Team United, the company constructing the roadway that will connect I-520 with I-20 near Highway 25.

Speaking to a group on a tour sponsored by the North Augusta Chamber of Commerce, Wertz said the 6.5-mile segment of the Palmetto Parkway will be accessible in October, although some of the bridges may not be totally completed and the widening of some of the side roads may not be completed until December.

Included in the project is a 10-foot Greeneway along much of the distance.

In addition, the Belvedere/Clearwater was realigned, taking out a "dead man's curve" while adding sidewalks, curb and gutter and drainage improvements.

Director of the Department of Economic and Community Development Skip Grkovic pointed out the future location of a North Augusta Department of Public Safety in the Northeast quadrant of the intersection of the Belvedere/Clearwater Road and I-520.

The new portion of I-520 will have very limited access, with exits only at U.S. 1, at the Belvedere/Clearwater Road, I-20 and at Highway 25.

Grkovic said Exit 22 is actually in the middle of The Springs property, which fronts on Highway 25.

Wertz pointed out the effort requires the construction company to work toward "avoidance, minimization and mitigation" regarding the disturbance of the land surrounding the roadway. He pointed to the curve on the Belvedere/Clearwater Road and explained that they had returned a portion of the original roadway to its natural state in one mitigation project.

Those on the tour heard from Jim Ewart, CEO for Team United, who explained the Bobby Jones Expressway (I-520 in Georgia) was begun in 1965. His company actually built the final Georgia phase of the expressway. Then his company was awarded the contract for the first phase of Palmetto Parkway and again in 2006 received the contract for the second phase.

Ewart said the second phase has involved 220 utility conflicts at an estimated cost of $10 million; however, his company has managed to keep the cost to solve those at $3.2 million.

He said the project consists of 475 acres, 10 miles of storm drainage, 5 million cubic yards of earth moved, 250 personnel (at the project's peak), 175 pieces of equipment, 115-foot difference in the elevation on the Clearwater Road, seven culverts, 16 bridges (at 12 locations with four double bridges), 160,000 tone of stone base for the roadway, 237,000 tons of asphalt, 200,000 square yards of concrete.

Ewart also noted the workforce was 35 percent black, 10 percent Hispanic and 55 percent white, as well as being 3.5 percent female.