ELGIN (WACH) -- Spears Creek Church Road is anything but the road less traveled.
“It’s terrible trying to get back in from I-20,” said James Harper.
Northeast Richland County residents tired of sitting in traffic and worried about the area’s future formed a task force with local officials.
“Like a lot of local roads that cross I-20, they all have their issues that need to be addressed,” said Randall Young with SCDOT.
A meeting Tuesday with SCDOT helping to answer questions about the upcoming I-20 Widening Project, which will add one lane in each direction between I-77 and just east of Spears Creek Church Road.
Construction on I-20 will begin this fall and is estimated to take three years at the cost of $80 million.
However, some residents want to see more than just I-20 widened.
“We would love to see Phase 2, which would be widening of the bridge,” said Beth Elliott.
Motorists complain Spears Creek Church Road often bottlenecks during peak travel times. There is no traffic signal to control the flow of traffic for those trying to turn left, crossing the overpass on Spears Creek Church.
The I-20 Widening Project would help ease some of the congestion, but residents want a permanent solution.
“We were hoping that out of Tuesday’s meeting, there was going to be some source of revenue that will allow that to happen,” said Harper.
On the ballot in November, Richland County voters will decide on a one percent sales tax increase; if approved, some of the money generated would go towards improvements on Spears Creek Church Road.
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