S.C. Roads Bill Could Be in Jeopardy

Another bump to fix South Carolina's crumbling roads.

"I like being realistic with people, I like to shoot straight, it's still not a done deal," South Carolina Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey said.

With the bill once again being passed back to the Senate, a short term fix in the budget could be the only solution.

"With the surplus we've had there's going to be some money, significant amount of money," Massey said, "Probably several 100 million dollars going towards roads and bridges this year."

But it's not the fix people need, instead a fix they want to avoid with Jimmie Rogers.

"Pressing issue because it's a safety more than anything. It's bad enough when it rains you don't see these massive holes in the road and you're trying to duck them," Rogers said, the owner of Jack Rogers Tire in Aiken.

Rogers says anything from a popped tire to bent rims can result from poor road conditions.

"A smooth road and a good tire that's up to the right air pressure, of course it's going to be better riding and better fuel-efficiency road," Rogers said.

Without a roads bill this year, Massey says SCDOT will not be reformed and projects like replacing the I-20 bridges seem further away.

"I think everybody understands that our roads have fallen way behind, whether that be from a maintenance perspective or even in some areas with the interstate expanding like we're talking about with the I-20 bridge for safety concerns," Massey said.

Georgia DOT says the replacement of both the Augusta Canal and Savannah River bridges is a 70-30 percent partnership with SCDOT, but it is a long-range project waiting on South Carolina funding.