SUMTER, S.C. (WIS) – After decades of complaints about impassible dirt roads in rural Sumter County, council has voted to step in.
In a 5-2 decision on Tuesday night, Sumter County Council approved the third and final reading of an ordinance that allows the county to take over ownership and provide maintenance for certain private roads.
The measure is aimed at addressing deteriorating conditions on roads like Glover Lane and Wilfred Drive in Rembert.
For residents like Howard and Frances Bennett, the change is long overdue. The short drive from their home on Glover Lane to the main road has been a headache for years.
“It takes us literally three minutes to go two-tenths of a mile,” Howard Bennett said. “You can travel at 60 miles per hour, you can do a mile a minute. And it takes us three minutes to do two-tenths of a mile.”
Howard Bennett travels to dialysis three times a week, and along the way, he battles deep ruts, washed out clay and potholes big enough to swallow a tire.
“This road is just ridiculous,” he said. “We have had work done on the car. We’ve had work done on this truck, and it’s all been front-end work because of that road.”
Neighbors say that mail carriers, propane companies and even emergency vehicles have struggled to reach homes because of the road conditions.
“You have a package, they wouldn’t even come down here,” Howard Bennett said. “They’ll leave a note, leave it at the post office.”
Howard Bennett’s wife Frances said the experience is hard to describe.
“You’d have to almost drive it yourself,” she said.
Under the new ordinance, property owners can apply to transfer ownership of their roads to the county.
Councilman Carlton B. Washington, who helped to lead this effort, called the vote historic.
He noted the county stopped taking private roads into its system 35 years ago, leaving generations with deteriorating access.
“A lot of those folks are much older, a lot of those folks have ongoing health issues that require access by medical providers, sometimes law enforcement, sometimes fire,” Washington said. “We see those services as basic services that all citizens should take part in and get benefit from.”
Washington said the images of these locations are heartbreaking. It is about safety for his constituents, he said.
“So in my mind, there was just no way that this council could not take this issue on,” Washington said.
The councilman said Sumter County is the first in the state of South Carolina to enact such a law.
The Bennetts, who have been patient for years, are grateful.
“It doesn’t have to be paved. It just has to be passable without being shook to death from all the lumps and bumps,” Frances Bennett said.
Washington said there will be a five-step process to apply.
Once accepted, roads will be prioritized based on condition and need.
According to Washington, the first projects are expected to begin in the spring.
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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