Awendaw road project gets nixed

A handful of residents living on an unpaved road in rural Awendaw will continue to slog through the mud to get to their homes after a Charleston County Council committee shot down a $2 million request for road improvements.

The council's Finance Committee on Thursday voted 7-2 against funding the project to improve and reroute the private Hutchinson Road.

Councilmen Henry Darby and Teddie Pryor voted in favor of funding the project.

Several council members, including Joe McKeown, said the project was simply too expensive and complex for a private road that serves only 13 properties and five homes.

"To the left (of the road) is a pond and to the right is critical marsh," said McKeown, who represents the area. "I don't know why we would ever put a road there."

Pryor, however, said he's concerned about safety.

The road is nearly impassable after a storm, and emergency vehicles have a difficult time getting to homes in an emergency, he said. "I can't put a price on somebody's life," he said.

Winwood Farm Home for Children was opposed to the rerouting because it would have taken some of its land and made the property less secure.

But residents who live on the road were disappointed at the committee's decision.

Elijah Blake, who has lived on Hutchinson Road all of his 80 years, said that decades ago, residents could access the road from what is now Winwood Farm's property. He simply wants the road back to the way it once was.

Betty Brown, who also lives on the road, said it was an unfair decision. "We pay a lot of taxes, but they won't give us a road," she said.

Reach Diane Knich at 937-5491 or dknich@postandcourier.com.