Several road widenings are needed in Fort Mill. One is the frontrunner to get built.

Fort Mill Town Council knows they can’t fix all the roads in town that need widening. To get any done, they’re going to have to get specific.

Council voted Monday night to prioritize a list of projects and communicate it to the citizen committee working on the Pennies for Progress referendum coming up this fall. Pennies 4 will, if approved by York County voters, put funding from a cent sales tax toward road construction and likely some maintenance.

The group is budgeting about $265 million of revenue in the seven-year span.

Monday’s recommendation puts a five-lane widening of Sutton Road and Fort Mill Parkway from I-77 to the railroad overpass on the parkway in the top spot. Next comes a five-lane widening of U.S. 21 Bypass from S.C. 160 to Springfield Parkway.

“I think you would have a good chance at getting both those projects,” Joe Cronin, town planning manager, told Council.

Staff estimates the first project would cost $30-$40 million. The second could cost $20-$30 million. Because of those costs and the history of Pennies dispersing projects countywide, it isn’t likely all the remaining priorities would be funded.

They include intersection improvements along Sutton, widening of U.S. 21 from Sutton to S.C. 160 and bypass widening from the railroad overpass to Holbrook Road.

Last summer, Fort Mill officials laid out more than two dozen roads that will near or exceed capacity this year, in 2025 and 2033 (other projected Pennies years). Yet even the top few suggestions were likely to suck up all the money the citizen committee would likely allocate to the Fort Mill area.

Council thus has to balance road needs with, at times, the dollars and cents side. Intersection improvements may cost less than road widening, meaning they may be more likely to make the list. Council generally went more with projected traffic congestion points with the latest recommendation.

“I’m never happy choosing what we think we can get instead of what we need,” said Mayor Guynn Savage.

There are other strategies. The county is working with the state infrastructure bank on a plan that could bring major intersection improvements along I-77 interchanges in Fort Mill and Rock Hill. Certain western parts of Sutton Road may be priorities not only for Fort Mill, but also for Tega Cay, making them worth an extra look.

The town can choose whether to pick other projects in hopes of landing more total work, or making sure priorities are accounted for even if it means the potential for duplicating. The I-77 interchanges in particular could have a significant impact on traffic and come from a source outside Pennies.

“This isn’t our only funding source,” said Councilwoman Lisa McCarley, referring to the infrastructure bank and other possibilities.

Pennies is an important source, though, aimed at important congestion points in town. Councilman Chris Moody recently met with town staff and found out traffic on the relatively new bypass in Fort Mill could quadruple within 20 years.

“You’re talking 120,000 (daily traffic trips) at that point,” Moody said.

Planning is important since even a project making the next Pennies list could be years before it opens for traffic.

“None of these will start tomorrow,” Savage said. “We’re talking years from now.”

The committee setting the Pennies 4 project list should have it complete May 1. York County Council will vote in a yes or no decision this summer, deciding on the entire list rather than piecemealing projects. County voters would then make a decision Nov. 7.

This story was originally published March 15, 2017 at 1:46 PM with the headline "Several road widenings are needed in Fort Mill. One is the frontrunner to get built.."