LITTLE MOUNTAIN, S.C. (WIS) – Just days after a WIS “Road to Repair” investigation spotlighted crumbling conditions on Jake Eargle Road, the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) was out making fixes.
People who live along this mile-and-a-half stretch near Broad River Road in Richland County say they have been waiting years for attention and have felt forgotten.
The agency said its crews leveled sections of pavement, patched potholes and repainted faded road lines.
The work from SCDOT this past week targeted two of the worst sections, including a large hump near a stop sign that neighbors had flagged as particularly hazardous.
Neighbors like Ned Row said the sight of SCDOT trucks rolling in to make repairs was a welcome one.
“It’s at last,” Rowe said. “And I probably said, ‘Thank you, WIS.’”
Rowe has been at the northern corner of Richland County long enough to see the area grow. He said it is now a smoother ride and less like a “slalom course.”
“Anything’s an improvement, we’re just glad for what we can get,” he said. “It doesn’t shake my car or truck anymore.”
WIS also checked back in with Betty Jo Amick, who has lived on Jake Eargle Road for more than 5 decades.
“We are so thankful and very appreciative that they have come and taken care of the situation,” she said. “We just want them to know that we feel safer with those areas taken care of.”
Amick and others said that some rough areas remain, and they would like to see SCDOT return.
“There’s some potholes, though,” she said. “They need to come back, that’s in between the areas at the end of the road that needs a little bit of asphalt put in.”
This is the second time in as many weeks that SCDOT crews have been spotted making repairs shortly after a WIS investigation.
Earlier this month, after a look into conditions along Jamil Road in Lexington County, the agency carried out a “full-depth patching” project there, cutting out weak pavement and replacing it with new material.
This time, the work was more limited, but locals are just as pleased.
“Had y’all not come out here, we might’ve been going years and years along still, along with the same scenario and not having anything fixed,” Amick said.
Neighbors are still hoping for the road to be fully resurfaced, but SCDOT said there are currently no resurfacing projects scheduled.
The agency said it has received 22 maintenance requests for Jake Eargle Road in the past two years, 15 of them related to potholes.
SCDOT encourages anyone with concerns about state-maintained roads to contact the agency directly by calling 855-467-2368. Any maintenance work requests can also be submitted online at https://apps.scdot.org/MWRO/
Have bad roads? Click here to send us a tip or contact “Road Ranger” Nick Neville directly at Nick.Neville@wistv.com.
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