South Carolina drivers to pay 2 cents per gallon more, Gas Tax in force Thursday

Charleston, South Carolina – Drivers in South Carolina will have to pay 2 cents more per gallon as a part of the South Carolina Department of Transportation paving program.

The officials say the 2021-2022 paving program will result in 1,000 miles of roads across the state to be rehabilitated and resurfaced during the upcoming two years.

Paving program project is estimated at $642 million of revenues from the state gas tax which means that SC drivers will pay 2 cents more per gallon starting Thursday.

The Transportation Commission approved the plan during its May 20 meeting, the SCDOT says.

The state gas tax increase enacted in 2017 is being phased in two cents per year for six years through 2022.

“Thanks to the foresight of the General Assembly in creating sustainable additional funding, this year’s paving plan is the largest annual program in state history and will result in SCDOT having repaved more than 5,000 miles of roads across the state during a five-year period.” SCDOT Transportation Commission Chairman J. Barnwell Fishburne said.

10-year-long project includes repaving and surfacing roads, replacing or repairing aging bridges, making rural roads safer, and improving key portions of interstates. All 46 counties in South Carolina are included in the program.

As we already reported in May, the projects will be prioritized based on multiple criteria including safety data, crash data, the age of roads and bridges, and traffic information.

“We are committed to full transparency in how we select and construct projects,” Transportation Secretary Christy Hall said. “We encourage citizens to provide comments during the paving program’s Public Comment period, which will begin in a few days. We are putting the state gas tax and other funds to work for South Carolinians.”

SCDOT managed to triple their work program over the years as their budget reached a historic $3.2 billion, funded by the gas tax, vehicle sales tax and federal funding sources.

For more details about this and other paving projects, please visit SCDOT website.