The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) is soliciting public input on the Palmetto State’s future transportation needs.
The department has created Momentum 2050: the Statewide Multimodal Transportation Plan. It assesses the existing statewide transportation system and anticipates impacts over the next 25 years.
Secretary of Transportation Justin Powell, in a statement on the plan website, said it is a road map for economic prosperity.
“The road and bridge network in South Carolina supports the movement of freight and people across our state. We have to keep these critical arteries of commerce flowing. We are designing a future that connects rural South Carolina to the global economy and provides access to job opportunities while continuing to promote the prosperity of our urban centers,” he said.
Momentum 2050 is a cooperative effort by SCDOT, the Ports Authority, the Department of Commerce, and the Office of Resilience. It also includes guidance from officials in local communities as well as bike, pedestrian, transit, and freight partners.
Will Williams, Executive Director of Western SC Economic Development, told ABD that information gathering such as this is important to both citizens and existing industries, along with those looking to build a company.
“Obviously, employees have to get from home to work. Companies have to move product in and out,” he said. “So, having a plan identified where down the road we could see those pinch points and be able to improve is very, very vital to economic development.”
Although some focus for economic developers has shifted to a trained local workforce and the so-called quality of life considerations for employees, Williams said transportation remains one of the driving forces.
“In the last 20 years, economic developers have been intentional about locating industrial parks as close to travel hubs in terms of interstates or four lane highway access as possible, because many of the companies, in their request for information we receive, they identify they need to be five miles or less from a four-lane divided highway or an interstate,” he explained.
Currently, the C.S.R.A. is serviced by just one interstate, I-20. Williams said the state needs to look at the arterial roads, like I-520/Palmetto Parkway.
“We do have some really great arterial roads. We just need to do a better job using them,” he said. “People look for the path of least resistance. So, if one of these major arteries becomes a choke point, then they start taking paths that aren’t as used, aren’t as well prepared, and that leads to issues down the road. So that’s why it’s important to keep the arterials as free and moving as best we can.”
Momentum 2050 is about more than just transportation for economic development. It incorporates plans for all users and all modes of transportation, including cars, trucks, trains, public transportation, cyclists, and pedestrians.
Williams said it is important for the department to hear from residents in western South Carolina to ensure needs at the community level are heard.
“Without hearing from business, industry, and residents, all they have to go on is the data they collect through their traffic counts, but without knowing the specifics. Data is not as good as hearing that local intelligence, because the traffic count isn’t going to tell you where they’re backing up on Old Jackson Road, for example. It’s just going to tell them how many vehicles use Old Jackson Road,” he said.
Comments will be accepted until the close of business on April 19 and should be forwarded to Ginny Jones, Public Involvement Director, SCDOT Public Engagement Office, 955 Park Street, P.O. Box 191, Columbia, S.C. 29202. Comments may also be submitted online via the comment form (https://movingsouthcarolinaforward.com/) or by email to SCDOTpubliccomment@scdot.org
