By HALEY HUGHES
Drivers heading for the new Palmetto-X service station at the corner of the 118 bypass and S.C. 421 will find there is only one way in or out.
The station has an access driveway connecting to 421, but not to 118, and it has been a source of frustration for the owner, who believes the lack of a second access driveway could hurt his business.
The bypass is a controlled-access roadway, meaning ingress and egress is controlled by the S.C. Department of Transportation.
Breaking controlled access with an encroachment permit is difficult in itself, according to Aiken County's assistant resident construction engineer Duncan Smith.
But, in the case of Palmetto-X, the encroachment permit was denied because a driveway connecting to 118 would most likely be torn up in a few years anyway once work begins to widen Hitchcock Parkway to four lanes, Smith noted.
"Currently, we cannot allow them to come through because we have a widening projects in the works," he said.
The widening of Hitchcock Parkway is still in the design phase, which could take two to three years.
Palmetto-X owner Joey Heyward, who owns three other service stations in the area, asked then for a temporary driveway to handle traffic to and from the business in the interim. He said SCDOT's answer was still no.
It doesn't make sense to Heyward not to have two entrances to his new service station, especially when a SCDOT-required traffic survey recommended two to keep 421 from becoming congested.
"Two entrances would be convenient for everybody," he said. "The excuse is when they four-lane Hitchcock Parkway, they'll give me a driveway."![]()
Drivers heading for the new Palmetto-X service station at the corner of the 118 bypass and S.C. 421 will find there is only one way in or out.
The station has an access driveway connecting to 421, but not to 118, and it has been a source of frustration for the owner, who believes the lack of a second access driveway could hurt his business.
The bypass is a controlled-access roadway, meaning ingress and egress is controlled by the S.C. Department of Transportation.
Breaking controlled access with an encroachment permit is difficult in itself, according to Aiken County's assistant resident construction engineer Duncan Smith.
But, in the case of Palmetto-X, the encroachment permit was denied because a driveway connecting to 118 would most likely be torn up in a few years anyway once work begins to widen Hitchcock Parkway to four lanes, Smith noted.
"Currently, we cannot allow them to come through because we have a widening projects in the works," he said.
The widening of Hitchcock Parkway is still in the design phase, which could take two to three years.
Palmetto-X owner Joey Heyward, who owns three other service stations in the area, asked then for a temporary driveway to handle traffic to and from the business in the interim. He said SCDOT's answer was still no.
It doesn't make sense to Heyward not to have two entrances to his new service station, especially when a SCDOT-required traffic survey recommended two to keep 421 from becoming congested.
"Two entrances would be convenient for everybody," he said. "The excuse is when they four-lane Hitchcock Parkway, they'll give me a driveway."