SCDOT spends over a billion dollars in taxpayer funds each year, yet there is a 20 year backlog of maintenance and repair needs for our aging roads and bridges throughout the State.
We need legislation requiring that all funding decisions, even those of the State Infrastructure Bank, be subject to objective, criteria-based prioritization and a “fix it first” approach. Our roads are the 6th most dangerous in the country. We need a statutory commitment to allocate the lion’s share of funding to maintenance and repair of the roads and bridges that facilitate trade and commerce. In order to better manage DOT as a business, the commissioners should be appointed in a way that increases their level of expertise and fiscal responsibility. Given our pressing needs, it is not acceptable for DOT to deplete its fund balance to the point that it can’t even pay its contractors, or address emergency needs.
