Councilman Larry Griffin questions Tyler Clark of the DOT on Blythewood road improvements. (Photo/Barbara Ball)
BLYTHEWOOD (Feb. 25, 2016) – Enticed by free Chick-Fil-A sandwiches and super food salads at a Chamber meeting on Tuesday at The Manor, a large crowd of Blythewood Chamber members and guests lunched and learned what’s in the Richland County Transportation Penny Program for Blythewood 29016.
Bob Perry, Transportation Director of Richland County and Tyler Clark of the S.C. Department of Transportation explained that Blythewood transportation penny improvements, totaling $29 million, will include a myriad of projects – road widenings, bikeways, sidewalks, intersection improvements, paving of dirt roads and resurfacing.
The crown jewel of the Blythewood improvements is the widening of Blythewood Road from I-77 to Highway 321. The first phase of that project will widen Blythewood Road to five lanes from I-77 to Syrup Mill Road at a cost of $10,519,000, not to include preliminary engineering costing $300,000 slated to begin this year. Right of way acquisition is expected to begin in 2017 and construction in 2018.
The second phase of Blythewood improvements includes the following:
-Widen Blythewood Road to five lanes from I-77 to Main Street.
-Widen Blythewood Road to three lanes from Syrup Mill Road to Fulmer Road.
-Widen McNulty Road to three lanes from Blythewood Road to Main Street.
-Construct traffic circles at Blythewood Road and Creech Road and at Blythewood Road and Cobblestone.
-Extend Creech Road to Highway 21 with a three-lane road.
When asked where on Highway 21 Creech Road would exit, Town Councilman Malcolm Gordge told The Voice that consideration was being given to two exit areas: 1) the road would run behind the IGA and on out to Highway 21 or 2) Creech Road would extend down to run Firetower Road and then exit Firetower Road out to Highway 21.
While Perry said there is no prioritization for the phase two projects at this time, the preliminary engineering is anticipated to begin in 2019 at a total cost of $21,911,000 for right of way acquisition and construction costs and $2 million for preliminary engineering.
While paving has been completed on five dirt roads in the Blythewood 29016 zip code – Overlook Drive, Annie Entzminger Court, Dunes Point, Peafowl Road, Elton Walker Road and Entzminger Road – 13 more roads in Blythewood 29016 are in the design phase and another 11 are in the planning phase.
Roundtree Road has been resurfaced and 12 more roads are in the resurfacing construction phase.
Bikeways planned for Blythewood Road from Winnsboro to Main Street have not begun.
Perry told the audience that the most important of 14 prioritization factors for completion of the Blythewood projects are public safety, potential for economic development, right of way obtained, design work completed and dedicated funds.
For updated information on the road improvements in the Blythewood community, go to www.RichlandPenny.com, email info@richlandpenny.com or call 1-844-RCPENNY.