Remedies for shoddy roads

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The poor condition of South Carolina's 25,000 miles of secondary roads costs this state's consumers millions of dollars annually in inordinately high insurance premiums and excessive vehicle repairs. A consortium of the state's most prominent business groups say the condition of South Carolina's roads is a job killer. Narrow roads don't accommodate large trucks well. Also, businesses expanding or locating here are leery about absorbing those high insurance and vehicle maintenance costs.

But the costliest consequence by far is the dangerous compromise to road safety obvious in these narrow, dimly lit and poorly engineered roads. Law enforcement cites poor road conditions as a contributing factor to the high rate of traffic accidents on secondary roads. That's where more than half the state's vehicle deaths occur.

The state Department of Transportation says South Carolina has a $560 million annual maintenance shortfall and must now address a $1.3 billion construction gap.

Easley Republican Rex Rice filed a House bill that could raise the gas tax by 7 cents, a sensible plan given that the gas tax is the only revenue stream dedicated to road paving and the tax has not been adjusted since 1987. But the bill that perhaps stands the best chance of passing was filed by Charleston Republican Rep. Bobby Harrell, chairman of the budget-writing House Ways and Means Committee. Harrell's bill diverts driver's license and other fees to road paving. It avoids raising the gas tax. State lawmakers have never been warm to raising the gas tax. And support of Harrell's bill suggests that this thinking still pervades the Legislature. The bill has 65 co-sponsors, with both parties represented.

Even though it's clear that lawmakers are still afraid to touch the gas tax, the support for Harrell's bill at least reflects a growing consensus in the Legislature that road maintenance cannot be put off indefinitely.

Harrell's bill is probably the best opportunity yet to begin addressing this state's growing maintenance backlog. However, with an estimated $1.3 billion construction gap, it would be imprudent to exclude from discussion a modest increase in the gasoline tax, which is among the lowest in the nation. The tax hasn't been touched in the past 18 years, during which time the state has had significant growth in both residents and visitors.

South Carolina may never catch up on road maintenance. But the fact that the Legislature is done ignoring the problem signals progress.