A plateau in state gas tax revenues -- the Transportation Department's primary source of money -- means the department is facing the same budget constraints that have plagued it for nearly two decades, Robert McFee, a construction engineer with the department, told the Lady's Island Business and Professional Association.
And state officials have no new answers on how they plan to pay for road maintenance,
"Things are very tight," McFee said. "From the first day I started working hereÉ getting blood out of a turnip has been a standing order."
About 92 percent of state revenue earmarked for the Transportation Department is raised through a 16 cent per gallon gas tax that is fifth-lowest in the nation and has not been raised in 16 years.
That tax, which could be increased only by state legislators in Columbia, helps pay for maintaining the fourth-largest state road system in the country.
Sarah Bembry, of AAA-Carolinas, said the average price for a gallon of gas in South Carolina is $1.41, the national average is $1.57. A gallon of gas in South Carolina is up 11 percent from an average of $1.27 at this time last year.
While the Transportation Department has spent $310 million to build roads in Beaufort County over the past 10 years, maintenance plans, including repaving and restriping projects, have been tossed aside for lack of money.
"I would certainly say we're shortchanging maintenance," McFee said. "ÉResurfacing is clearly the biggest local need."
McFee's declaration was met with exasperation from many Lady's Island residents.
"How in the world are we going to maintain our current roads, let alone all the new projects?" asked Bob Stoothoff, the association's past president.
McFee said the only way to raise more money for maintenance would be to raise the gas tax.
Studies have shown a higher gas tax won't curtail people's driving patterns, Bembry said.
"People in North Carolina have a higher gas tax and they still drive just as much as people in South Carolina," she said, adding that wars and conflicts in the Middle East do more to affect gas usage than an increase in taxes. "What makes more of a difference are trends in gas prices. That's when travelers in general (choose) to wait on their road trips."
Also Tuesday, McFee gave an update on several local projects, including construction of a new bridge that will provide two of Beaufort County's barrier islands, Hunting and Fripp, with their only connection to the mainland.
The engineer said the Transportation Department began accepting bids Tuesday to replace the Johnson Creek Bridge, which connects Hunting and Harbor islands. The $5 million project, which could begin by October, includes replacing the bridge and widening the approaches.
The existing Johnson Creek Bridge is 621 feet long and 20 feet wide. The new bridge will be longer -- 648 feet -- and almost twice as wide -- 44 feet -- to accommodate shoulders next to each lane.
Meanwhile, several local projects funded through state bonds have already been completed or are close to being wrapped up.
Work to expand a portion of S.C. 280 was finished in May, while the 4-mile expansion of S.C. 170 from McGarvey's Corner to the Beaufort-Jasper Academy for Career Excellence was completed in 2001.
The expansion of a 4-mile portion of Sams Point Road on Lady's Island is about 85 percent complete, McFee said.
Transportation officials also hope to hold another public hearing on the expansion of U.S. 21 through St. Helena Island by October and begin work on the project by the end of 2004.
