Aiken County, SC -- Raymond Wells has dealt with it for years.
Raymond Wells, tractor-trailer driver: "You've got all the traffic lights and all the traffic stopping and going, constantly! So, it definitely slows you down when you're trying to get to work in the morning."
Traffic on Highway 25: four little lanes, and a lot of big trucks. Up until now, Raymond, like so many others, has had to get on this road to get where he needs to go.
Wells: "I drive from here, to Columbia, to Sumter, and back. It can really slow you down in the morning.”
But, when he goes to work Friday morning, he can avoid all of this, when the road closed signs are removed, and traffic is allowed to freely flow on the South Carolina side of Interstate 520.
Wells: "It's going to help me a lot because I live in South Augusta, so it will be just a straight shot. I can take Bobby Jones to I-20 and then home, so it'll be quicker for me."
Wednesday afternoon, the ribbon was cut, and the parkway was dedicated, but it is still not officially open for traffic.
Final touches that weather had delayed were put down...and put up.
But Thursday night, drivers should be able to go from I-20, to 520, going around Augusta, and around traffic.
Sidney Miniweather, tractor-trailer driver: "For us delivery drivers, it will cut down on time, as far as cutting through town, versus, just being able to jump on one road and go all the way around, and get to our destinations a whole lot quicker."
It’s been a long road to get here, but construction on the project has moved mountains of dirt. Five million cubic yards, in fact, enough to build a ten foot wall from North Augusta, to Gainesville, Florida.
Claude Ipock, SCDOT Project Engineer: “Project went very well, it was a good working relationship with the local agencies and the contractor, as well as the DOT.”
With very few accidents during the entire project, it's one that workers say they are proud of, and say they'll be proud to watch drivers just like Raymond Wells, taking a road, now, they hope, more traveled by.
Wells: "Oh, it's going to be a great thing; it's going to open up things to where you can just flow easily."
The Palmetto Parkway will open late Thursday night.
Work on Highway 25 will continue for the next several months, but crews say they hope to wrap it up by Masters Week.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement