South Carolina’s Failing Road Grade: What the 2025 Infrastructure Report Means for Charleston, Bluffton, and Beaufort Drivers

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave South Carolina’s roads a “D” grade in its Infrastructure Report Card. The poor-to-fair rating means much of the state’s infrastructure is deteriorating and at risk of failure without intervention. The ASCE identified deferred maintenance and rising traffic volumes as key factors behind the poor grade.

For drivers in the Charleston Tri-County, Bluffton, and Beaufort areas, that grade reflects real consequences. According to the report card, around 41 percent of roads are in poor or fair condition as of 2025. Anyone who drives I-526 during rush hour or travels the back roads off Highway 17 already knows what the data confirms. Longer commutes and rougher roads are part of daily life, and in the worst cases, so is a higher risk of serious crashes. Driving on roads in need of repair costs each South Carolina driver $685 annually, while residents lose $1,523 per year due to crashes.

What’s Behind the Grade?

The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) oversees the fourth-largest state-owned roadway system in the United States and is responsible for about 63 percent of the state’s public road miles. The system’s scale makes keeping up with maintenance a challenge.

Most drivers spend their time on primary and secondary roads. But less than 30 percent of pavement is in good condition, while roughly 50 percent is in poor condition. More than half of South Carolina’s pavements need to be completely rebuilt, at an estimated cost of $11 billion. With vehicle miles traveled expected to increase by 20 percent by 2030, roads that are already struggling face added wear.

The effects show up in lost time and money. Charleston motorists waste an average of 41 hours per year sitting in congestion. Statewide, the annual cost of congestion, crashes, and poorly maintained roads is estimated at $5.4 billion. Potholes are a persistent part of that picture. They form when water seeps into the road surface, and freeze-thaw cycles gradually crack the pavement from within. Heavy traffic and years of deferred maintenance make already vulnerable roads break down even faster.

SCDOT launched a Pothole Blitz in 2025, the first coordinated statewide repair push in several years, after winter storms and flooding caused a spike in repair requests across the state. The initiative was intended as a temporary solution until paving season, but many residents remain skeptical that patching alone provides lasting relief. The 2025-2026 Pavement Improvement Program covers primary highways, farm-to-market roads, and neighborhood streets, adding 732 miles of paving projects.

Are South Carolina Roads Actually Efficient?

South Carolina’s highway system ranked second nationwide for overall cost-effectiveness in the Reason Foundation’s 28th Annual Highway Report. This includes second place in capital and bridge disbursements, which cover the construction and widening of roads and bridges. The state ranked fourth in maintenance spending, which addresses ongoing work such as repaving and pothole repair.

The rankings sound reassuring until you look deeper. Cost-effectiveness measures how well the state stretches its budget, not how good the roads actually are. The same report ranks South Carolina 44th in rural fatality rate and 41st in urban fatality rate. Additionally, the state’s interstates rank 10th for urban road conditions and 27th for rural road conditions. While doing more with less is admirable, it doesn’t always make roads safer for drivers.

The Growth Dilemma: Coastal Areas Left Behind

South Carolina welcomed over 91,000 new residents in a single year, and the state’s population is expected to climb more than 15 percent by 2035. That growth has been especially visible along the coast, with new neighborhoods and businesses continuing to spring up along corridors that weren’t intended to handle this kind of demand.

The numbers are clear. Charleston County and Beaufort County are part of SCDOT’s District 6, which recorded the highest total daily vehicle delay in the state at 26,638 hours, nearly double that of the second-highest district. Bottlenecks on I-526 and I-26 are among the state’s most congested corridors.

A statewide survey was conducted as part of the Multimodal Transportation Plan. In it, nearly two-thirds of residents identified increased traffic congestion as the factor most likely to affect their daily travel, while 23 percent cited rough pavement as the most impactful factor. As more people move to the Charleston metro and the Bluffton and Beaufort areas, and more cars hit the road, the gap between what the system can handle and what it’s being asked to cope with keeps widening.

Infrastructure funding and planning can’t keep up with the rate of growth. Roads take years to plan, fund, and build. The result is a system that is perpetually playing catch-up as new residents arrive. Coastal drivers are left absorbing the daily cost of that gap in the form of longer commutes, rougher roads, and more hazards.

How Road Conditions Impact Your Safety and Your Family

Poor infrastructure goes beyond being an inconvenience. It’s a safety issue. The South Carolina FY2024-2026 Highway Safety Plan found that 1,198 people were killed in traffic wrecks in 2021, a 21 percent increase compared to 2017. The state’s fatality rate is approximately 42 percent higher than the national average, and the numbers are heading in the wrong direction. Charleston ranked first in South Carolina for fatal and serious injury collisions in 2021, with 1,483 crashes. Beaufort ranked 13th among counties with 439 crashes. Dorchester had 351 crashes, Berkeley County had 551 crashes, and Horry County had 1,227 crashes.

Roads in poor condition contribute directly to that risk. Deteriorating pavement, missing shoulders, and poorly marked lanes force drivers into split-second decisions. A manageable situation can quickly turn into a serious crash. In rural coastal areas, emergency response times can vary, and trauma centers are farther away. As a result, drivers may have to wait longer for medical assistance.

How is South Carolina Responding?

The state has made meaningful investments in recent years. The South Carolina General Assembly passed Act 40 in 2017, increasing the gas tax by 12 cents per gallon over six years and generating around $910 million in new annual funding. Those revenues flow into the Infrastructure Maintenance Trust Fund. Since Act 40 passed, SCDOT has put around $2.45 billion to work across the state and grown its construction program to a record $4 billion as of 2022.

The impact can be seen at the local level. In Charleston County, 70 road and bridge projects totaling more than $172 million are currently underway, with 81 percent of construction complete. In Beaufort County, 49 projects totaling over $73 million are in progress, with 82 percent complete.

Looking ahead, SCDOT’s Momentum 2050 plan lays out long-term priorities, including bringing more pavements to good condition, addressing aging bridges, and reducing the state’s fatality rate. Safety investments have already produced results, with a 20 percent reduction in fatal and serious injury crashes on improved rural roads. The work is ongoing, but the gap between what the system needs and what funding can deliver remains.

What Can Drivers Do When Poor Roads Cause Damage or Injuries?

If your vehicle is damaged by a pothole or road defect, document everything at the scene. Take photos of the hazard, note the exact location, and hold onto all repair receipts. You can file a Damage Claim Form directly with SCDOT, either online or by mail, along with two repair estimates and your vehicle registration. To qualify under the SC Tort Claims Act, SCDOT must have had prior knowledge of the road defect and failed to address it in a reasonable time. You have one year from the date of the incident to file a claim.

If poor road conditions contributed to an injury-causing crash, the situation is more involved than a property damage claim. South Carolina’s comparative fault framework allows liability to be shared among multiple parties, including government entities that failed to maintain dangerous roads. Any compensation recovered in these cases typically comes from settlement proceeds, which is why contacting a personal injury attorney is a crucial next step. If you are involved in a crash, never speak with any insurance company, including your own, until you have consulted a lawyer.

How to Take Action

You can report potholes and road hazards through SCDOT’s online tool at scdot.org or by calling 855-467-2368. Contact your state and local representatives about road conditions in your community and stay engaged with transportation planning decisions that affect where you live.

If you or a family member was injured in a crash where poor road conditions may have been a factor, contact the Charleston personal injury attorneys at Steinberg Law Firm to learn more about your options. Call 843-720-2800 today.

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