The South Carolina Department of Transportation is moving toward fixing Wilton Road in Springdale, according to state Rep. Micah Caskey.

The road has been impassable since the flood waters of October 2015 washed out an earthen dam, and took part of the road with it.

“We had a meeting in my office last week with the DOT, an engineer and residents of the area,” said Caskey.

Caskey said on Monday, “SCDOT began to remove the guardrails on the road so that the next phase (existing road removal/grading) can begin.”
“After the existing road is removed, a privately contracted engineer will begin repair of the damaged portions of the dam and the road. Once those repairs are completed and certified by a professional engineer, SCDOT will rebuild the road across the dam,” said Caskey.

He said a woman who owns property at the dam has agreed to pay an engineer to begin the process to repair the dam.

Caskey said “Springdale residents have rightly been frustrated by the slow progress in repairing Wilton Road.” He said the “excuses and reasons are long and complicated, but we are finally moving forward. I have been reluctant to share details because doing so can create inflated expectations.”

Caskey said there is no specific timetable, because “like all construction projects, there’s always the chance for unknown and unexpected problems.”

Caskey said with the Wilton road repair, “there’s the potential for those unknown and unexpected problems to exceed the monies available to make the repairs.” He also said the dam repair must be funded, by law, without any state tax dollars.