Each day in South Carolina, three people are killed and nine people are severely injured in vehicle crashes, amounting to one of the highest roadway death rates of any state.
Repaving, widening and rebuilding the state’s roadway infrastructure is a critical priority in reducing crashes. However, state construction projects on roadways and bridges can sometimes disrupt city projects and development plans. Construction projects in heavily trafficked areas certainly affect residential and business traffic.
Knowing when and where and for how long a disruption may be present can be helpful to plan for the future and address residents’ questions.
In January, the S.C. Department of Transportation announced its new application for elected officials, municipal staff and the general public to keep up with a project’s progress. Project Viewer is available from the department’s website and allows users to search by county for projects, including emergency repairs, bridges, widenings and operation and safety projects.
SCDOT Programmed Project Viewer
"The reviews we’ve had from elected officials at S.C. State House and others is that they really like it," said Ron Patton, deputy secretary for intermodal planning at the state transportation department.
"It’s a lot of info at your fingertips, especially for those comfortable using the computer, but still pretty simple even for those who are not. Point and click and follow the legends."
The department routinely updates project status information, but the Project Viewer provides contact information for each project to direct the public to the right agency staff to get the latest status and to answer any questions.
Patton said in addition to boosting agency transparency and helping to keep residents and city elected officials and staff in the loop, Project Viewer may offer advantages to economic development.
"For potential businesses, this gives you some idea of what may be going on, in or around a site," he said.
"Particularly with a widening, if you’re not in a local office dealing with us on a regular basis but in a different section, this gives you an easy way to see what’s happening."