Highway Commissioner F. Hugh Atkins last week called on the state Department of Transportation to focus its efforts on repairing and upgrading South Carolina's system of secondary roads. It's a call that's hard to argue with, but Atkins and the DOT board first need to find the money to pay for the improvements.
There's no doubt South Carolina's secondary roads are dangerous. According to one nonprofit organization's estimate, our secondary roads are more dangerous than those in every state in the nation save two: Arizona and Florida. Underscoring the point, more than 1,000 people died on South Carolina's roads in 2005. The roads are narrow, winding, lack shoulders, and many of them need to be repaved. Throw in drivers who often ignore speed limits or drive without safety belts, and you've got a recipe for disaster.
Atkins told Greenville News reporter Tim Smith that finding money to upgrade the state's secondary roads is his biggest challenge. But the DOT and the Legislature need to get serious about finding the funding to pay for an ongoing program of upgrading and maintaining our secondary roads.
In a perfect world, the state would upgrade these roads immediately. But the DOT must operate within the limitations of the state budget and compete with other agencies that are demanding limited tax dollars, and that makes finding the money a daunting task. But it's one that ought to be a priority for everyone in the state.