CLARENDON COUNTY, S.C. — Residents along a rural road in Clarendon County are getting worried about the road's condition which residents say has cost them hundreds of dollars in car repairs.
Allisia Robinson says the last four months have been full of headaches, and wasted money.
She lives just off of Winters-Hill Road in a Clarendon County subdivision. She says since February WE road, the road to get to her property, has been undrivable.
"You go down that road, you see the puddles, don't drive in them because you don't know what's up under the puddles because the holes are so deep."
When taking a trip down WE road you'll see a huge puddle and muddy holes along one side of the road. On the other side of the street, residents have turned a front yard into an extension of the street.
"Some neighbors got out and shoveled some dirt, about a week ago and put in the holes but why should we have to do this when we pay taxes."
She explains, " Me and my son got out there and decided to shovel some dirt."
According to Clarendon County Administrator David Epperson, the roads along Winters-Hill including CE and MS streets are privately owned, but the man who owned and maintained them passed away in late 2022, leaving the responsibility of maintenance up to his children. He adds that maintenance isn't required by law.
"We can't even go in there and repair a road for emergency services to be able to utilize it unfortunately. I feel like that's not enough of an exception to overturn the law that says you can't improve private property with public resources,"
According to Epperson, a petition from residents was presented to the county council and says for people in similar situations, to seek professional legal help.
"We've advised the land owners that they would probably need to seek legal counsel on this and maybe try to work with the owners on this, the owners or the estate to try to get the maintenance resumed on the road."