Hitchcock Parkway project on track for late fall completion

Dede Biles, Aiken Standard, S.C.
·2 min read

Jul. 3—The Hitchcock Parkway Corridor Improvement Project is continuing to move forward.

All upgrades are expected to be finished late in the fall, a spokesman for the South Carolina Department of Transportation, or SCDOT, told the Aiken Standard recently in an email.

"SCDOT is working with the contractor to increase production," Robert Kudelka wrote.

He also provided the following updates:

—Clearing and grubbing is 95% complete, with only a few remaining locations needing to be addressed.

—Full depth patching throughout the project corridor is complete.

—Approximately 25% of the drainage pipes and drainage structures have been installed.

—The reinforcement of soil slopes and retaining wall construction are ongoing throughout the project and are approximately 25% complete.

—Two-foot shoulder widening throughout the project is complete.

The contractor is Reeves Construction Company. Its corporate office is in Duncan, a town in Spartanburg County.

The current construction contract amount is $14,162,625.

Hitchcock Parkway is a section of S.C. Highway 118.

The scope of the project includes the resurfacing of Hitchcock Parkway from U.S. Highway 1 (Jefferson Davis Highway) to Silver Bluff Road.

Also in the plans are the addition of a shared use path from Silver Bluff Road to Huntsman Drive and upgrades to five intersections.

Those intersections are at Augusta Road (S.C. Highway 421), Dibble Road, Huntsman Drive, Hickory Ridge Road/Oriole Street and Silver Bluff Road.

At the Augusta Road intersection, a right-turn lane on Hitchcock Parkway westbound onto Augusta Road will be added.

The additions to the Dibble Road intersection will be a right-turn lane on Hitchcock Parkway westbound onto Dibble Road, left turn lanes on Dibble Road (in both directions) onto Hitchcock Parkway and a traffic signal.

Added to the Huntsman Drive intersection will be a right-turn lane on Hitchcock Parkway eastbound onto Huntsman. Traffic signal optimization also is planned at that location.

At the Hickory Ridge Road/Oriole Street intersection, left-turn lanes on Hickory Ridge Road and Oriole Street onto Hitchcock Parkway will be added along with a traffic signal.

The additions at the Silver Bluff Road intersection will be double left turn lanes on Silver Bluff onto the section of S.C. Highway 118 known as Pine Log Road eastbound, a right-turn lane on Silver Bluff onto Hitchcock Parkway westbound, and a right-turn lane on Hitchcock Parkway eastbound onto Silver Bluff Road.

Kudelka previously told the Aiken Standard that there would be intermittent traffic delays throughout the duration of the project.

"Please be safe and aware as you travel though the work zone," he said. "Seek alternate routes if at all possible to reduce the delays in traffic when lane closures are present."

For more information about the Department of Transportation, visit the SCDOT page on Facebook or scdot.org.