Widening Highway 183
By Alex Saitta
January 27, 2024
Introduction:
Most have read about the county project to widen Highway 183 from the Greenville County line to Highway 135. This was not a bad decision, but I didn’t vote for it, as there was more to it. This is a $110 million project and about $20 million is being funded by the county government and county transportation committee.
State Owned:
Highway 183 is a state owned road. It says it right on the signs. The state should maintain and repair its own roads. And look at how much more money the state is collecting, raising the gas tax from 16 cents to 28 cents. Since then the state has collected $3.8 billion extra in gasoline taxes.
Plenty of roads need to redesigned, widened or fixed in Pickens County. That section of Highway 183 is not the number one need. Highway 123, in particular the portion in Clemson called restaurant row, is a nightmare in terms of design and traffic. The average traffic counts for that section of Highway 123 is 36,000 cars. That section of Highway 183 is 10,000.
I saw widening Highway 8 coming out of Anderson, past Easley High School and up to West End Elementary as a higher priority too. Both have about the same traffic counts. And when you look at where the new homes are being built, a recent county map of future subdivisions has 1,622 new houses planned along that section of Highway 8. Zero subdivisions are planned along that section of Highway 183.
By the way, the school district is buying 39 acres across from Easley High, so potentially that will add a third school to that section of Highway 8.
Most Dangerous?
I’m sure you’ve heard Highway 183 is the most dangerous road in Pickens County, the upstate and even some have said the state. I had my doubts and examined the root of that claim. I looked at the original project application for state funds and Attachment C stated, “SC-183 is the 2nd or 3rd most dangerous road in SC”.
They looked at fatality data from 2011 to 2015 that compared the most dangerous stretch of Highway 183 (only 7 miles) with entire roads throughout the upstate and state. Naturally, the MOST DANGEROUS subsection of any highway is going to be more dangerous than the averages of entire highways. An apples to oranges comparison. Those who say the road is one of the most dangerous never bothered to examine the data or how it was manipulated, and just repeated what they read, over and over.
Objective comparisons and recent data doesn’t support Highway 183 is the most dangerous road in the state, upstate or even the Pickens County. Here is Pickens County fatality data from the South Carolina Department of Public Safety. From 2019 to the start of 2024, on Highway 123 there was 21 fatalities. Highway 183 had 9 fatalities. US 178 had 7 fatalities. Given those highways are about the same length (26 miles), Highway 123 is much more deadly.
For injury data, the most recent 5-year period is from 2018 to 2023. Highway 123 had 172 incidents with an injury and/ or fatality; Highway 183 had 90; Highway 93 had 86 and Highway 178 had 74 incidents with an injury and/ or fatality. One death or injury is always too many, but the public was misled on this, as Highway 183 isn’t even the most dangerous road in our county, let alone the upstate or state.
Not More Growth:
Finally, I felt widening Highway 183 will usher in a new wave of growth in northern Pickens County, putting even more stress on limited infra-structure up there, scenic quality of life and wildlife too.
