Rock Hill city officials are now planning a new $60 million bridge across the Catawba river that will span from Mount Gallant Road to Sutton Road giving thousands of daily drivers from western York County an alternate route to reach the interstate.
Although most local officials see the new bridge as a necessity, it is facing considerable opposition from South Carolina State and Fort Mill city leaders. State Rep. Ralph Norman in particular strongly opposes the bridge project, saying that it would spend too much of the body’s transportation funding on one project in too small an area.
While Rock Hill worries about traffic congestion on one of its main roads, Fort Mill leaders fear that a new Catawba bridge would send more traffic problems their way.
Those in support of the new bridge are focusing on the fact that city planners are now estimating that by 2035 that the current Celanese Road bridge would increase to 57,700 a day, and with the new bridge, that number is only estimated to be about 40,000 per day.
Opponents of the bridge argued its cost, at an estimated $60 million, would eat up the remainder of the area’s road budget for the next 20 years. Only $116 million has been allocated and there has already been $62 million committed to other projects, including $15 million for improving the I-77 interchange on Celanese.
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