Tega Cay road projects go out to bid Nov. 11

It was news some road-weary residents thought they’d never hear, but it came in front of a packed house Oct. 29.

On Nov. 11, construction bids will be advertised for long-anticipated improvements along Highway160 and Gold Hill Road, from Palmetto Place to Zoar Road. It’s a project Tega Cay residents and others are counting on to ease gridlock at peak driving times, said Julie Barker, South Carolina Department of Transportation project manager.

Barker joined Phil Leazer, York County engineering project manager, in updating residents on that and other current road projects during an informational meeting at the Glennon Center in Tega Cay. The meeting was standing room only as residents hoped to learn why the projects are taking so long to get started.

The $35.3 million in projects are funded through multiple sources, including SCDOT and Pennies for Progress, York County’s 1-cent sales tax program.

The projects include the Highway 160/Gold Hill Road Intersection and Highway 160 West widening ($6.6 million of SCDOT/Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement funds and $8.8 million of Pennies funds), Hubert Graham Parkway ($7.4 million of Pennies funds) and the Gold Hill Road /I-77 Interchange ($12.5 million of Pennies funds).

Once construction bids are awarded for Highway 160/Gold Hill Road, utility relocations will begin, followed by roadwork at Zoar Road and continuing toward Gold Hill Road, Barker said. Improvements include two left turn lanes, one through lane and one through/right turn lane for entrance into Tega Cay from Highway 160, Barker said. The project is estimated for completion in summer 2016.

“Keep your fingers crossed,” Barker said.

York County will pick up were SCDOT leaves off to widen Highway160 West to five lanes from Zoar Road to the North Carolina state line, Leazer said. A traffic signal is not included at Zoar Road in SCDOT’s project, but is included in the county’s.

Construction will take two years and begin in summer 2016, Leazer said. Construction on Hubert Graham Parkway, which will run parallel to Highway 160 West, is estimated to begin in the spring and be finished by the winter of 2016, Leazer said. The work will reduce traffic headed to Tega Cay neighborhoods off of Highway 160.

The county chose a unusual design for the Gold Hill/I-77 Interchange, Leazer said. The double cross-over diamond interchange, sometimes called a “diverging diamond,” features two directions of traffic that cross to the opposite side of the freeway, requiring drivers to briefly drive the wrong way.

Leazer said concrete medians help avoid driver confusion. He urged residents not to fear the design.

“It’s the most efficient interchange design we have available,” he said. “It’s an awesome opportunity.”

Leazer said the design will be the first and only one of its kind in use in South Carolina. The project is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2016 and is estimated for summer 2018 completion, Leazer said.

With all road projects, delays are built into the process, Leazer said. Planning and design accounts for 16 percent of the project time, environmental and permitting 21 percent, right-of-way 21 percent and construction 42 percent.

A typical road project that does not include federal funding takes an average of four years from planning to completion, Leazer said.

Leazer said the process is drawn out for all projects, including private developments.

“It’s not just in South Carolina or the U.S., it’s all over,” he said.

Nighttime work and limits on construction work during the day contribute to the delays, Barker said.

To speed up progress, Leazer said York County is working to streamline the process with SCDOT, working with municipalities to develop a plan to identify and protect new and existing key roads and intersections and extend the partnership between Pennies and the municipalities, a Rock Hill-Fort Mill partnership referred to as RFATS and developments.

The goal is that both York County and Tega Cay understand what is needed as future developments become a possibility, Leazer said.

The county must also work with federal highway officials to streamline the federal process, Leazer said.

Barker said SCDOT will keep Tega Cay Mayor George Sheppard up-to-date on all road projects. She said the main concern among residents is when the projects will get off the ground.

“It’s great there is so much interest in these projects,” Barker said. “It shows there is a need for them in this area.”

Leazer said the county will also work to keep residents updated.

“Our job is to better inform you,” he said.

Leazer said the county will take residents’ concerns into consideration as they progress.

“No one knows those roads better than the folks that drive them every day,” he said.

Tega Cay resident Debbie Hyman, who moved to the area in 1981, said she would like to see more focus on Highway 160 rather than Gold Hill Road.

“It’s frustrating for us because it seems like Gold Hill will be a major freeway while 160 is getting small fixes,” she said.

Leazer said it comes down to funding.

“From a transportation standpoint, the Gold Hill Road interchange was a higher priority than the SC 160 interchange,” he said.

However, the Highway 160/I-77 interchange is a priority for another funding source and will see major improvements, Leazer said.

Lee Perdue, a Tega Cay resident since 1996, said the meeting helped her understand the process, but did not ease her concern for the time it takes to get road projects going.

“We need a fix now,” she said.

Other concerns

Residents in attendance last Wednesday took the opportunity to speak with Leazer and Barker about concerns in Tega Cay.

With more growth, one resident was concerned about the ability of the Gold Hill Road/I-77 interchange bridge to withstand stand-still traffic for a period of time. Leazer said the SCDOT studied the bridge, for both current traffic and future projections, and it met or exceeded all standards.

Another resident was concerned with additional traffic that will come from subdivisions along Hgihway 160 not included in the current project area.

Leazer said the planned improvements will indirectly address that as well.

“The intersection is the problem,” he said. “The design we have put forward will process that traffic more efficiently.”

With two Charlotte firms, LPL Financial and Lash Group, in the process of relocating their headquarters to Fort Mill, bringing 5,000 jobs to the area, one resident was concerned with how the roads will handle the influx of new business traffic.

“It’s extremely important we investigate our partnerships,” Leazer said. “Those jobs are coming. We need to do something and we need to do it quick.”

The full presentation is available on Tega Cay’s website, tegacaysc.org.

This story was originally published October 30, 2014 at 7:24 PM.