Greenville details $25 million in state-funded infrastructure projects; SCDOT outlines Church Street Bridge timeline

City staff reported ongoing progress on a set of state-funded infrastructure projects totaling roughly $25,000,000 and detailed timelines, near-term construction starts and coordination steps with the state Department of Transportation.

Clint and Nick of the city engineering department told council the funds—approved in the FY 2024 and FY 2025 state budgets—were allocated after a city resolution in September 2023 that identified priority projects. The city’s goals for the funds include pedestrian safety, mobility improvements and economic development aligned with the Greenville 2040 comprehensive plan.

Clint and Nick listed projects either completed, under construction or planned: the Cultural Corridor (expected completion in May), the Wade Hampton Corridor phased improvements (phase 1 starting this summer), Queen Street Bridge conceptual design (bridge originally built in 1927), a two‑phase pedestrian safety action plan that addressed school zones, East North Streetscape (near Bon Secours Wellness Arena), the Pendleton/Bauer intersection project, Augusta Street undergrounding (right‑of‑way work and anticipated summer start), Stone Avenue pedestrian improvements and the Verde Street bridge project (design wrapping and bids planned for spring).

The engineers said many projects were on track to finish in 2025 or early 2026 and that several had been targeted because they were shovel‑ready. The presentation noted the funds helped speed deliveries and increase competitiveness for future grants.

Following the city update, SCDOT District 3 Administrator Brandon Wilson and a SCDOT representative, Raymond, gave a detailed schedule for Church Street Bridge work. Brandon said the contractor is in a pre‑construction phase and “Phase 1 kicks off on April 4 or April 15 of this year.” He explained that phases 1–3 will maintain one lane in each direction, with the contractor removing a concrete median, rehabilitating sidewalks, lights and barriers in stages, and employing traffic control and alternate-route signing rather than a full detour.

SCDOT said Stage 4 will be a more intensive closure planned for 2026. During that closure SCDOT plans to hydro‑dem the existing deck and install a latex‑modified concrete overlay; the agency described the closure window as six weeks and said it has offered contractor incentives of $20,000 per day to finish early and disincentives of $20,000 per day for delay. The contract price for Church Street Bridge was reported as just over $16,000,000.

Contractor work hours are expected Monday through Friday with evening work to the city’s noise‑ordinance limits; most heavy lane closures and lane‑shift work will be staged to minimize daytime disruption. The city said messages boards and notices to property owners and businesses will go up in the weeks before any lane changes.

City staff named Dwayne Cooper as the city’s point of contact for the Church Street Bridge project; staff also said they will share the engineering presentation with the Greenville delegation and coordinate communications for major events that coincide with construction (for example, March Madness and NCAA events).

No formal council votes were taken on these projects at the meeting. Council members asked for continued coordination on traffic enforcement, emergency‑response routing and message‑board timing ahead of the April lane closures and the 2026 closure period.