The upstate and midlands are getting screwed over once again. (Columbia: home owners insurance, cost of living)
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The I-85/I-385 interchange area (which includes every nearby portion interstate freeway) is definitely in need of an upgrade. The roads and bridges in that area were designed for significantly less traffic. The merge lanes and exits are, in many cases, extremely insufficient for the amount of vehicles that use them each day. Now is the best time to upgrade this interchange and prepare it for even greater traffic in the future. The Greenville metropolitan area is steadily growing and should take action today or its infrastructure will remain inadequate and could negatively affect the state's ability to attract future economic developments.
Im sure this intersection is not perfect, but it is a vacation compared to malfunction junction in Columbia and the SCDOT's traffic counts, and projected traffic counts will tell you that, 385/85 projected average daily volume for the year 2018 is less than what the current average daily volume is in Malfunction Junction and I havent seen the 2018 projections for Malfunction Junction, but I can promise you it wont decrease anytime soon!
Also from the standpoint of fostering economic development activities on a state level, I dont see how 385/85 should be of greater importance than Malfunction Junction considering that the intersection is in the middle of Columbia which itself is seeing tremendous economic growth, but is in the middle of the state and to get to anywhere from the upstate (i.e. the Port) you have to go through it, so it has a pretty big impact on economic development up there as well, not to mention here and the rest of the state.
I tried to read through this entire post but it was basically the same argument.
I just want to add this. The South Carolina Transportation Infrastructure Bank has been chaired since its existence by Don Leonard. The SCTIB is so successful, it is held up as the gold standard by other states.
I am lucky enough to be friends with Don and I can say he is one of the smartest, most ethical men I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. He's also a very modest man about his credentials.
Don is single handedly responsible for bringing in the Ravenel Bridge a year early and millions and millions under budget.
Why am I mentioning this? Because I would put a little trust in a man who isn't pissing away our tax dollars and is smart enough to know what projects need done first and how to get them done.
FWIW, while it isn't relevant because of his character, Don is wealthy enough he literally cannot be bought.
He did an amazing job with the Ravenel Bridge. Single best use of tax dollars in this state if you are a jogger, too. That pedestrian path over the bridge is spectacular. Best jog in the state.
He did an amazing job with the Ravenel Bridge. Single best use of tax dollars in this state if you are a jogger, too. That pedestrian path over the bridge is spectacular. Best jog in the state.
It kind of killed the thrill of the Bridge Run! Yes, that is an amazing run! I remember the week they opened the Ravenel Bridge Charleston hosted the Burn The Bridges Run. If you didn't run it, the race started at the Aquarium and you ran out and over the Silas Pearman to Mt. Pleasant then back to Charleston over the Grace Memorial.
That Grace Memorial Bridge was the scariest thing I have ever been on and to think at one time it was a two way bridge. People were literally pulling nuts and bolts off the bridge.
Afterwards they fed us shrimp & grits and we drained a Budweiser truck of beer.
It kind of killed the thrill of the Bridge Run! Yes, that is an amazing run! I remember the week they opened the Ravenel Bridge Charleston hosted the Burn The Bridges Run. If you didn't run it, the race started at the Aquarium and you ran out and over the Silas Pearman to Mt. Pleasant then back to Charleston over the Grace Memorial.
That Grace Memorial Bridge was the scariest thing I have ever been on and to think at one time it was a two way bridge. People were literally pulling nuts and bolts off the bridge.
Afterwards they fed us shrimp & grits and we drained a Budweiser truck of beer.
It was a really fantastic memory.
Ive lived in Columbia my whole life and have been in Charleston during the summer every year since I was 7 and have yet to do the Bridge Run....think ill change that this year!
That's the problem. Its one reason SC is dead last or near last in all the rankings that MATTER: Crime, poverty, STD's, infant mortality, education, income, pollution.
Name a list you don't want to be at the bottom of...and SC is probably near the bottom.
Republican leadership dominates this state. And it shows.
No....SC was run by Democrats for generations. And many of them were from the Lowcountry
In other words, by 1964, most Democrats were already voting like Republicans on non-racial issues. On a blank slate, these Democrats would be Republicans; they were true DINOs. But three things kept these Democrats from actually calling themselves Republicans: Jim Crow, seniority and Herbert Hoover.
This is why we see such little change from the general trend post-1964, even with the end of Jim Crow's strange career. Republicans picked up a few Congressional seats. J. Strom Thurmond became a Republican, and a few other prominent Democrats followed suit. But the Southern Congressional delegations continued to be dominated by Democrats. Almost all of the signatories to the Southern Manifesto remained Democrats until they left Congress. Some, like Russell Long and John Stennis served as Democrats into the 1980s. When Haley Barbour ran against Stennis in 1982, he lost by a nearly 2:1 margin. George Wallace was elected Governor of Alabama as a Democrat in 1982.
Southbel- your post reminded me of one of my aunts that is well into her 80s. I'm a late in life kid so a lot of family stories fly right over my head due to not knowing the relatives or times in general. She voted for Bush in 2000 after not voting for decades & again in 2004- but after the economy fell her response was 'my Daddy told me never to vote for a Republican after Hoover and I should have listened.'
It should also be noted that Republicans used to be the urban/city voters in the South. That has pretty much flipped on its ear as well. And as a whole the South was abysmal in terms of race relations (although not exclusively so.) So pretty much all Southern Politicians who began before the 60s have records that would embarrass almost anyone today. A lot of those racist Dems really only stayed in the party to be in the majority party- if you look at the rise of Rs in the mid nineties a large portion are elected officials who switched parties. They were racially out of sync with Dems and many continue to be fiscally out of step with the Rs. But they maintained their elected offices....
I'll also point out how half the folks over the various boards in Columbia would sway like the wind politically if it served their ambitions. I think the biggest problem with the infrastructure bank and highway commission is that SC has a lot of growth, a lot of unique conditions along the coast and a lot of infrastructure issues in the upstate but very little money to address them. As much as everyone wants to claim the Ravenel Bridge is a masterpiece it was actually a bit of a stock design and is engineered to be as inexpensive as possible to complete. The double diamond supports while giving it character are actually an engineering solution. And the design-build firm that constructed it should get credit for the early completion. No paper pusher in Columbia had any impact on the actual construction schedule, phasing, submittals or materials in a way that would shorten the process.
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