SCDOT’s Travis Jolly points to a spot on the map of Leesburg Road to answer a question from the residents in attendance at Thursday’s meeting.
The Capitol View Area Neighbors Association (CVANA) heard a presentation from Travis Jolly, with the South Carolina Department of Transportation, on the widening of Leesburg Road at its monthly meeting Thursday, August 4.
The project includes widening Leesburg Road from Patricia Drive to Lower Richland Boulevard to provide two travel lanes in each direction and a paved median. Sidewalks will also be installed the entire length of the project.
Construction began in February 2022 as part of SCDOT’s 10-year plan to rebuild the state’s roads and bridges. The project is being broken up into two parts, with the Fort Jackson side of Leesburg Road seeing the changes first. So far DOT has been in the clearing and grubbing phase, which is expected to be completed this month. Once that part is complete, utility companies will have a four month window to relocate their facilities. Eight utilities will be affected: City of Columbia Water, City of Columbia Sewer, Dominion Gas, Dominion Power, Spectrum, AT&T, Verizon, and Fort Jackson, which will move a fiber line. According to Jolly, the City of Columbia will give a 72 hour notice before any disruption to its services.
As part of the project a new drainage system will be installed and a new bridge will be constructed at Mill Creek.
The Fort Jackson part of the project is expected to take two years to complete. Once that is finished, DOT will begin work on the other side of Leesburg Road. When that switch happens, traffic will switch to the left side of Leesburg during construction.
The entire project is expected to be complete by October 2025 at an estimated cost of $47.5 million. The contract has been awarded to Eagle Construction Company out of Newberry.
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