COLUMBIA, S.C. — People living and working in the Leesburg Road area found nails on the road on Wednesday and took to social media to warn others and request help from the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT).
Rico, a man who lives in Columbia and runs his own lawn care business, was on his way to a job when he picked up a nail in his tire on Leesburg Road instead of the extra work he had hoped for.
"I lost a couple of jobs today because of this flat and I had to get somebody to help give me a tire so this is going to cost me money, I lost two jobs today that I couldn't do to help feed my family," the man said as he changed his tire.
SCDOT has been working to widen Leesburg Road for two years. On Wednesday this week, a resident who posted on social media explained that a crew building a sidewalk removed the boards supporting the setting concrete but left nails behind.
Some of those nails ended up in the tires of folks driving through.
"I hope they just pay more attention and that they stop dropping things in the road because it can cause people to be set back. You cause people to lose money man the economy is hard out here," Rico said.
WLTX contacted SCDOT about the complaints.
Kelley Moore, a representative for the agency, responded with a statement reading:
"We were made aware of a concern from a community member about nails near this road project – the contractor was made aware and took steps to clean up the area and to prevent similar issues going forward. We encourage anyone with an issue along a state-maintained roadway to be in touch with us directly at 855-467-2368."
State Representative Jermaine Johnson said he contacted the SCDOT to ensure the road was being cleaned up. He said anyone who has experienced a tire blowout because of the nails can file a damage claim to be compensated for their tire repairs.