Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transportation And Planning topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Resident urges action on dangerous neighborhood street as council outlines $152 million in DOT projects and planning dates
Summary
A resident described hazardous conditions on Madison Street — large trucks, potholes, no streetlights — while the county administrator announced five tentative public-input meetings for the comprehensive plan and council members outlined about $152.4 million of DOT construction planned for Colleton County through 2031.
Miss Felicia Johnson told the Colleton County Council on March 2 that her neighborhood suffers from dangerous street conditions — a posted 45-mph speed limit in front of her house, large tractor-trailer traffic routing through a residential area, eroded ditches and potholes, and missing streetlights — and urged the county and state to act.
"That speed limit in front of my house 45, it needs to go down. I'm tired of people getting killed," Johnson said, describing damage near Madison Street and saying she had written state and federal officials and would continue escalating until the situation is resolved.
Administrator Hicks responded in the administrator's briefing by outlining the county's next steps on planning and infrastructure. He announced tentative public-input hearing dates for the county comprehensive plan — March 24, March 25, March 26, March 31 and April 1 — and said times and locations will be published. Hicks also said he will bring proposals to modernize land‑use and zoning language with consultant Benchmark and to study the feasibility of impact fees so developers may pay a share of growth-related infrastructure costs such as water, sewer, police and fire.
During council time, members highlighted substantial Department of Transportation activity and spending planned in the county. One council member cited a DOT figure of approximately $152,392,400 in construction anticipated in Colleton County between fiscal year 2026 and 2031, listing multiple bridge replacements (including a planned height change on the Highway 17 bridge to Charleston County), bridge projects on Highway 64, and numerous primary and secondary pavement rehabilitation and reconstruction projects with various letting and completion schedules.
Council members urged residents to report local roadway problems through the South Carolina DOT maintenance-reporting web tool (DOT app), noting that providing photos, location details and repeated mentions improves the chance of supervision and repair. Administrator Hicks and the council encouraged citizens to submit locations via the DOT site so engineers and supervisors will see them in the queue.
Next steps: the administrator will publish hearing locations and times, present consultant proposals for zoning and impact-fee studies at a future meeting, and staff will continue coordination with DOT on planned projects. Residents with local road or safety concerns were advised to report issues through the DOT maintenance app to ensure they enter the formal queue.
