Summerville council votes to decline SCDOT�requirement to take on six additional streets

The Town of Summerville Council voted July 9 to decline South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) conditions that would require the town to accept six additional streets when it takes over West Richardson Avenue.

A motion moved by a council member and seconded carried on a voice vote to tell SCDOT "no thank you" to the proposal, after councilors described the requirement as an unfair transfer of maintenance responsibility and raised public-safety concerns. One council member said staff should catalog DOT roads and sidewalks and place DOT on constructive notice for deficiencies.

Council discussion emphasized potential cost and safety impacts if the town accepted responsibility for additional streets without funding. One council member said, "If we don't push, everything's gonna get pushed back," urging staff to pursue the town's state delegation in Columbia. Another council member said DOTis "not our friend" and warned that adding six streets could become a multimillion-dollar project for a future council.

Council asked the public works committee to review the matter and directed staff to prepare documentation of roadway and sidewalk deficiencies on DOT-owned streets. The motion to decline the SCDOT requirement passed by voice vote; the transcript records no roll-call tally of individual votes.

Council members framed the vote as a protective step for town resources and public safety while preserving leverage to press DOT to correct deficiencies on state roads rather than shifting responsibility to the municipality.