SCDOT begins “Pothole Blitz” in Lowcountry

CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - The South Carolina Department of Transportation says that the new year means new initiatives to fix the potholes lacing South Carolina roads.

Over the next several weeks, SCDOT says they are doing a “Pothole Blitz,” so drivers will see workers all over the Lowcountry filling in those holes.

In 2017, SCDOT filled 62,000 potholes at the end of the year. In 2018, 110,000 potholes were filled.

Many drivers say the plague of potholes is now impacting their wallets.

“When I hit it, it caused my tire to pop immediately, I didn’t have a spare I just bought the car,” Audra Gavin says.

SCDOT say they want to combat the Palmetto state’s cracked roads until they’re safe again.

“We are focusing in on getting as many fixed as we can, see where we are, do it as long as it takes,” Law says.

But this initiative is coming too late for one Florida woman. She says that while visiting the Lowcountry during Christmas she hit a pothole so big that now, three weeks later, she still can’t drive home.

“I went to swerve to miss the pothole, I hit the other major pothole instead, my whole car did a bunny hop effect, hopped in the hole, then flipped into a ditch,” Jessica Bleich says.

Bleich now saying she hopes the SCDOT holds to their promise because it is a major issue.

“You can see the potholes, you go to swerve, you hit another pothole. Then you go into oncoming traffic, then you hit the ditch.” Bleich says. “I had nowhere to go, I hit that pothole and it was done and over with.”

The SCDOT is asking anyone that comes across a pothole to please report it on SCDOT.org or call the “pothole hotline” at 1-855-GO-SCDOT (855-467-2368).

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