The cause of potholes is due in part to the standing water that is not able to run off properly, not from the constant traffic.
File photo
NEWBERRY COUNTY — Almost a year ago today, The Newberry Observer sat down with State Representative Joe White to get to the bottom of the ongoing road issues in Newberry County.
In our 2024 interview, White said that in the next two years he was determined to make roads in Newberry County a number one priority – to find out why roads aren’t completed the way they’re supposed to, why they (South Carolina Department of Transportation) does not follow their own manuals and why – with all the resources there are for roads – we never seem to have good roads.
In that same interview, White said the DOT manual states every road in the state is supposed to be inspected at least two times during the year – once in the daytime, the other at night. Major roads are to be inspected four times a year – twice during the daytime, twice at night.
“I know for a fact that inspection is nothing more than just penciling it in saying they inspected it. So everybody talks about potholes and we sure have our share of them, but like I said, the thing that causes potholes is water standing on roads. It’s not traffic going across. If they would protect the surface of the roads, if they would fix a pothole and make sure water runs off the road like it’s supposed to, we would decrease the possibility of having bad roads,” he said in 2024. “The thing that is supposed to do that is a thing called ‘ditching.’ According to their manual, they’re supposed to ditch every road at least once every six years. When they ditch a road, that means they’re supposed to scrape the side of the road to make sure the water runs to the ditch and then make sure all the culverts under driveways and side roads are not clogged up so water can run through the pipe it’s supposed to run through.”
Last week, White said much hasn’t changed since the last time he spoke with us.
“In my opinion, we have a structure and accountability problem,” White said.
White said the person who is the head of SCDOT was essentially a political appointment and that a different approach should be taken to find the best person for the job. As an example, White compared it to the University of South Carolina or Clemson University hiring a football coach who is a good buddy/friend as opposed to going across the country to find the best coach to hire.
“I think that should be the approach the governor should take,” he said.
White added that there are five different potential buckets of money that can be used on roads and that there is such a complex distribution of funds to entities. This, he said, is where accountability and oversight becomes difficult and that because the system is so convoluted, there needs to be a complete overhaul.
“We can’t find out who to blame/who to talk to. I’m currently spending hours each week looking at DOT structures (only looking at the Top 20),” he said.
White recently attended an event where Representative Ralph Norman, who is one of many running for governor of South Carolina, spoke. White quoted Norman as saying that when he (Norman) is appointed governor, he will appoint someone over SCDOT. White said it was a great start appointing someone directly assigned to handle roads.
“Unless DOT can be structured in a way that’s official and accountable, I don’t think we’ll get it fixed,” he said.
Using another example, White referenced a time where in Newberry a backhoe broke. After receiving an estimate, it was determined that it would cost more to fix it than what it was worth. Then the question came up of whether a backhoe could be borrowed or rented – White was given a response of “we don’t want to do that.” So, White said, if no one was willing to rent or share equipment, nothing was going to be done for around four months.
“Everybody that’s ever run a business with heavy equipment know that the most important part is maintenance,” White said.
An according to White, the maintenance on roads, which include mowing grass on the side of the road, ditching (so water runs off the road into the ditch), sealing and patching cracks, all of that is part of the DOT manual.
In the last week, White said he has received a number of calls from people who live on rural roads that are in terrible shape. White contacted Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster and asked if his deputies could help compile a list of dangerous roads. White was given a list, but folks started noticing new road work being done around Newberry, but none from the list that was provided to White.
“It kind of bothered me…Why are we doing these roads and not these unsafe rural roads,” White said.
This new road work was coming from the County Transportation Committee (CTC). White said according to bylaws, they are to work with the CTC to look at a priority list where they would then use that list to spend the money. He also said the CTC is supposed to consult with DOT, which was not done, but instead asked mayors around Newberry County what roads needed to be resurfaced.
“I got a little bit vocal/questioned the integrity of how we chose those 51 roads. All this extra money because of COVID funds, in my opinion, we did not use it wisely,” White said. “We need to prioritize it to fix the roads causing the biggest problems, exercise more oversight and try to get the legislature to give the CTC more money.”
At the end of the day, White circled back to what he said about accountability and structure.
“We have to have somebody that every four years that has to get our vote of confidence,” he said.
Reach Kelly Duncan at 803-768-3122 ext. 1867 or [email protected].