SCDOT Makes Significant Progress on Act 98 Funded Projects

2014 ACT 98 Resurfacing Projects completing on-time

COLUMBIA, SC – The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) has announced that projects funded directly by, or benefitting from Act 98 have surpassed target goals in some areas. The announcement of how these funding resources have been put to work in the three major funding categories was made in a report to the SCDOT Commission at its monthly meeting in Columbia on Thursday, December 4, 2014.

Road Resurfacing

2014 ACT 98 Resurfacing Program

• 17 of the first 20 projects were originally scheduled for completion in 2014. These projects included 211 road segments totaling 131 center-line miles that are complete and open to traffic. The remaining 3 projects are on schedule to be complete in the spring of 2015 as originally programed. The 2014 ACT 98 resurfacing program totaled $36.3 Million.

2015 ACT 98 Resurfacing Program

• The SCDOT Commission has approved $41.1 Million of projects from both the August and October highway lettings that are scheduled to begin shortly and be completed in 2015. In addition, as revenues have exceeded projections, the SCDOT Commission approved an additional $40 Million of projects for public comment that SCDOT is currently scheduled to receive bids on in February of 2015.

Bridge Replacements – SCDOT received $50 million in one-time funding for this category to replace closed and load restricted bridges over a two-to-three year period. To date, SCDOT has received bids on 28 bridges totaling $19 Million with 2 bridges complete and open to traffic.

Interstate Improvements – The I-85/I-385 Interchange project is the largest Act 98 project. A $231 million contract was awarded earlier this fall. It is the second largest project in the history of South Carolina. Act 98 is providing $80 million in the funding package. The contract was awarded to Flatiron-Zachry Joint Venture. A Notice to Proceed was issued on October 30, 2014 for the 410-day design phase of the project. The goal is to reconfigure the interchange to improve safety and efficiency for the nearly 200,000 vehicles that use it on a daily basis.

Other Interstate Improvement Projects Accelerated. SCDOT staff reported that preliminary work on two other Act 98 projects has been accelerated: 1) The widening of I-20 to six lanes in Lexington County between US 378 and Longs Pond Road (approximately 11 miles). SCDOT anticipates awarding a contract on this project in March of 2016. 2) The second project is one that will widen I-77 to six lanes in Richland County between I-20 and Killian Road (approximately seven miles). SCDOT anticipates awarding a contract in December of 2015.

Act 98 of 2013 provided SCDOT with additional funding for bridge, resurfacing and mainline interstate projects. All projects identified for funding have been prioritized and selected based on Act 114 prioritization criteria. More information about Act 98 projects is available on the SCDOT website at: http://www.scdot.org/inside/act98.aspx