The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) will establish construction work zones and lane closures along Highway 61 in Dorchester County beginning October 12, 2020 as work begins on improvements to the scenic highway’s safety and quality.

Contractor Banks Construction will begin work on a 6.5-mile portion of SC-61 from Highway 165 to the Dorchester/Charleston County line. The project is part of SCDOT’s 10-Year Plan to improve the state’s roads and bridges. Funded by the gas tax increase, the 10-Year Plan focuses on improving the state’s most dangerous rural roads, resurfacing our most traveled and aging corridors, repairing or replacing deteriorating bridges, and improving key portions of our interstates.

Lane closures and work zone flagging operations will be in effect 24 hours a day for approximately two- to three-mile stretches of the corridor. Motorists can expect delays and are encouraged to use extreme caution around work zones. Alternative routes should be taken when possible. Construction of this phase is expected to last three months, and work is dependent on the weather.

SCDOT will rehabilitate and repave the existing roadway, create two 11-foot wide lanes with three-foot paved shoulders, and install better signage, high-visibility pavement markings, and rumble strips on the centerline and edgelines.

“Temporary inconvenience during construction will result in much-needed progress,” said Transportation Secretary Christy Hall. “Thanks to significant community involvement, SCDOT is delivering an improved and safer road while preserving all of the corridor’s trees and historic beauty.”

Another 8.25-mile section of SC-61 from the Colleton County line to the intersection of US Highway 17-A will be repaved, receive new four-foot shoulders and rumble strips, and better paint and reflectors will be added. Construction for this section will begin after the first section is completed.

Nearly 30 percent of South Carolina’s fatal and serious-injury crashes in rural areas occur on five percent of the state’s roads, which is why SCDOT’s 10-Year Plan focuses on improving the safety of 1,000 miles of the state’s more dangerous rural roads.

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