Florence Mayor Stephen Wukela held a press conference Tuesday to announce construction has started to resurface and fix drainage problems on Oakland Avenue.
The road is being repaved, regraded and its drainage system rebuilt.
Mayor Stephen Wukela says the project ran into a number of delays since he first announced it ten months ago.
He says the South Carolina Department of Transportation (DOT) nearly doubled the cost estimate from $400,000 to $753,000.
"In spite of the increased cost, at my request, and to my great satisfaction, Senator Hugh Leatherman and Florence County Transportation Committee Chairman Sherwin Welch demonstrated their commitment to the project and secured the additional monies necessary to make it reality," Mayor Wukela said.
He says the second obstacle was the DOT does not allow paving work to start during a period between approximately December 15 and March 15 of each year. So he says it looked like the long overdue work on Oakland Avenue would be postponed until next spring or later.
"During this delay, I urged upon Senator Leatherman the desperate need suffered by the community because of the condition of Oakland and the pressing importance of speedy action," Wukela said.
He says Leatherman compelled the DOT to let the work get underway before winter.
Wukela says now that construction has started, it should silence those who called it a political hoax.
The project is expected to be finished by the winter.
