State approves $13.5M for road work in city

The City of Aiken has been approved for $13.5 million in state funding for three road projects, including the widening of Hitchcock Parkway, which has been on the City’s radar for more than three decades.

The South Carolina Transportation Infrastructure Bank voted Thursday to provide $9.5 million for the Hitchcock Parkway widening, $3 million for widening University Parkway between Richland Avenue and S.C. Highway 118 and $1 million to improve turn lanes at Dougherty and Whiskey roads. That money will be paired with one-cent sales tax money that was approved by voters in 2010. The Hitchcock Parkway project will receive $4 million from the sales tax, while the University Parkway project will receive $3 million and the Dougherty Road project will receive $90,000.

City Manager Richard Pearce said the City filed an application with the Infastructure Bank in 2007 and was given notice last fall that the funds could soon come available.

“It’s very much manna from heaven,” he said.

The Hitchcock widening – from Silver Bluff Road to U.S. Highway 1 – has been discussed since at least the 1970s. A 1975 Aiken Standard article cited a traffic study committee’s recommendation that it be expanded to four lanes and that the traffic load then was “greatly over capacity.”

Pearce said the South Carolina Department of Transportation has hired design engineers who will present a concept plan for public review. Pearce said he did not have a time frame for the completion of the plan. Presumably, the study would recommend up to a four-lane stretch for the duration of the road.

“Obviously, the whole purpose of the project is to help traffic flow better on the parkway,” he said.

S.C. Rep. Tom Young, R-Aiken, said he expected the Hitchcock project to take 18 months to two years to complete and will provide dual benefit.

“It’s for both traffic flow and safety improvements,” he said.

The Dougherty expansion is seeking to alleviate congestion by adding a right-hand turn lane from Dougherty onto Whiskey Road.

Young and Pearce both praised the joint efforts of the City, County, Aiken County Legislative Delegation and the Greater Aiken Chamber of Commerce in securing the project.

“These are significant improvements,” said Pearce. “The City of Aiken and its representatives have pushed for them for a number of years, and we hope motorists will enjoy these improvement projects when they are completed.”

S.C. Sen. Shane Massey, R-Aiken, said he was pleased to hear of the banks’ decision to fund the three projects.

“That’s great news. It is recognition of Aiken’s growth, which is a direct result of the great people and wonderful area that we have here,” Massey said.

Michael Gibbons is the managing editor of the Aiken Standard.