SOUTH CONGAREE, S.C. — News19 is getting answers regarding a Lexington County resident's issues with the dirt road he lives on.
Chris Rice said Elrod Avenue is flood-prone and graded down too far. He said he called the county for answers but hasn't had luck resolving the issue. Rice and his neighbors said they have problems when it floods.
"It's gotten more of an issue now since they've been grading it, and it's been going on down to the actual black paper," Rice said. "And called the supervisors, called the county, they won't call back. They won't give you any answers. They just keep saying, 'Aw, there's nothing we can do; are you on the list?' and they never would come out and actually see the problem."
Rice said getting to work after a big storm is especially hard.
According to Lexington County, Rice has called the public works department six times within the last seven years to submit a service request. The most recent call dates back to 2020.
However, Rice said he called the department three times in October and showed his phone call log to confirm.
"We have received, I think, looks like nine service requests this year on that road, asking to have the road bladed or scraped with the motor-grader and some things repaired and some right-of-way trimmed and cut," said Lexington County Public Works Deputy Director Tim Shumpert.
Shumpert said that eight of the nine service requests have been completed, and the ninth was submitted on Dec. 4. He said that one will also be addressed.
Shumpert said the department hired a new service district supervisor for the South Congaree area on Monday. He said the position had been vacant for the last several months.
He said Elrod Avenue, in particular, is hard for the county to maintain because of the right-of-way.
"We have some issues where it's a really flat area. There's - we don't really have any right of way, any drainage ditches, any kind of drainage easements in the area, and so he has to go and put some, dig out some old rock and put in some new rock just to help in some areas where water does accumulate at times in the road," Shumpert said.
The public works director said it would be easier for the department to provide service if property owners on the street were to grant an easement to the county.
"Yeah, I would consider it if they'll fix the road, yes," Rice said.
"I wish there weren't so many that we could respond to them, and they were all gone by the end of every week," Shumpert said. "But we get so many that that's just not the case, so they're steadily working on those."
In addition to calling the Lexington County Public Works Department to file a service request, residents can also visit the Lexington County Public Works Department's webpage.