CHARLESTON, SC NEWS - LIVE 5 WCSC Breaking News, Weather, SportsCity: Federal money is down payment for Crosstown flooding fix

City: Federal money is down payment for Crosstown flooding fix

By Hatzel Vela  bio | email | Twitter

CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - Despite the fact the city only received a fraction of the money it requested for the Crosstown Expressway drainage problem, Mayor Joe Riley touted the federal grant as "extremely significant."

"What we've got here is a very significant down payment," Riley said during a last-minute press conference Wednesday afternoon at City Hall.

Charleston was awarded a $10 million grant as part of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Discretionary Grant Program. The program is part of the larger American Recovery and Reinvestment Act President Barrack Obama signed into law a year ago.

The city had requested more than $146 million for the project, which will redesign and reconstruct the Crosstown Expressway to include a storm water runoff system that would quickly shunt water into the nearby river, said a federal government release.

The system would include a system of tunnels built 140 feet below the city, Riley said. Shafts will drop down into the tunnels, which will carry water into a pump station between the Ashley River bridges, he added.

The pump stations are designed to pump out 500,000 gallons of water per minute.

"These 10 million dollars will open additional doors for us and further opportunities for us to be able to accumulate all of the funding," Riley said.

Getting the money also shows the federal government recognizes the road, which is part of U.S. Highway 17, is their responsibility. The city is closely watching a jobs bill currently in Congress, which has some funding for highway projects.

Riley explained the efforts the city and the local congressional delegation, including Senator Lindsey Graham and Congressmen Jim Clyburn and Henry Brown, undertook to convince the federal government the money is badly needed.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was shown a video highlighting the drainage problems, Riley said.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano came to Charleston and was taken to the top of the Johnson Hagood Stadium on The Citadel campus so she could see the role the highway plays in the security of this region.

Riley explained the Crosstown Expressway is a designated evacuation route for any major disaster and is near the Medical University of South Carolina, which is just one of four hospitals in the state with a level one trauma center.    

On a daily basis, 60,000 cars use the road, which was built on essentially creek beds, Riley said.

"This is a federal highway cutting a scar through this city without drainage considerations and we are going to get this done," he added.

Riley will travel to Washington, D.C. in the coming weeks to meet with federal transportation officials to figure out how the $10 million can jumpstart the project.

State Rep. Wendell Gilliard, who served on city council for more than nine years and represents part of the Crosstown Expressway area, said the grant is money the city didn't have before. Whatever they can get will hopefully improve the quality of living and make the area safer, Gilliard said.

"It was long overdue," said Gilliard, who pleaded the city's case before federal lawmakers in the past.

Charleston was one of 51 applicants awarded a grant. The Department of Transportation had 1,400 applicants.

Only one other project in the state was granted stimulus funds.

Dillon County was awarded $10 million of the $360 million they requested to build a new Interstate 73 from Myrtle Beach to Interstate 95.

Related stories: $10 million grant issued for I-73 project

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