The Rock Hill-Fort Mill Area Transportation Study committee (RFATS) gave final approval Friday to a measure that will provide the additional funding to build a sidewalk near Indian Land High School.
The sidewalk will be built on the northwest side of River Road.
“The project will be a go sometime later this year. I just can’t tell you when,” said County Administrator Steve Willis, who attended the RFATS meeting.
Last November, 300-plus Indian Land residents petitioned the S.C. Department of Transportation to build the sidewalk to improve student safety along the heavily traveled section of U.S. 521 between Shelly Mullis and Dobys Bridge roads.
SCDOT said it didn’t have the money, so Lancaster County and the county school district started a joint effort to come up with the funds.
Construction costs were initially estimated at about $161,000. However, the project was shelved in April after the approximate cost soared to $248,000.
The funding is coming from a federal Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) grant that targets community-based projects ranging from sidewalks to bike paths and streetscapes. Sections of Indian Land are now designated as urban and fall within the RFATS service funding area.
And RFATS has now agreed to pick up all the cost, except for the $48,000 – $24,000 each – that the school district and county agreed to split.
Willis also noted that SCDOT had postponed intersection upgrades at U.S. 521 and Marvin Road until 2020. That project was slated for 2019, but has been pushed back because of drainage and ditch issues.
By Gregory A. Summers, Staff Reporter with The Lancaster News