By admin 
It’s been more than a decade since the state closed a section of Arcadia Lakes Drive, a small but important street linking two busy thoroughfares in Columbia — and during that time, residents of a neighborhood watched in frustration as traffic was detoured through their community.
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But after years of inaction by the state highway department, efforts to restore Arcadia Lakes Drive for through traffic are underway.
Construction crews recently cleared vegetation that had grown over the closed two-lane section of Arcadia Lakes Drive in anticipation of fixing a shaky, storm-battered dam that formed the base of the road.
Once the dam is up to standards, the S.C. Department of Transportation plans to repair the street, a local traffic route between Trenholm Road and Two Notch Road. The DOT is sharing costs on the project, but a breakdown of others funding the effort was not available.
“SCDOT’s portion of this project is to reconstruct the road over the dam after that work has been completed,’’ agency spokeswoman Jennifer Timmons said in an email. “The SCDOT portion of the project has been awarded and is underway – that work currently includes utility work and right of way acquisition.’’
The project will cost about $2.6 million and should be completed by spring, according to the DOT. Work began July 16. A schedule of DOT projects, obtained by former Mayor Mark Huguley under the state open records law, indicates the work is to finish in late April 2027.
Arcadia Lakes Drive is a two-lane road that once provided a straight shot from Two Notch to Trenholm. The repair work will restore the closed mid-section and eliminate the detour.
Phil Betette, a property owner in the neighborhood where traffic was detoured, said he’s glad to hear progress is being made, for both his community and for Columbia-area motorists.
“It’s positive,’’ Betette said. “If you are trying to get from Trenholm to Two Notch, that is a straighter route. It’s going to be better for anybody coming through there.’’
His neighborhood is composed of modest houses and a winding street next to what once was a small lake. The neighborhood was always a safe place for children to ride bikes and play in the grassy front yards. But it became more hazardous when traffic was detoured away from the closed section of Arcadia Lakes Drive more than 10 years ago.
Betette said he was surprised it has taken so long to resolve the matter, but “It’s wonderful to see this finally come through.’’
State dam safety regulators deemed the earthen structure beneath Arcadia Lakes Drive to be insufficient in 2012 and ordered that a pond behind the dam be drained to prevent hazards downstream if it broke.
Then in 2015, a record flood swamped Columbia, battering the dam and eating a chunk out of it. The road had closed sometime before the flood, blocking motorists wanting to cut between Two Notch and Trenholm roads, and sending them into the neighborhood.
Why it has taken so long to move toward repairing the road isn’t completely clear, but former ownership of the dam played a part in the delay.
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The dam was always privately owned, but Arcadia Lakes Drive above it is public, causing an array of legal questions that apparently kept the road restoration at an impasse.
A lawsuit involving property owners who live in the neighborhood and the dam’s owner finally was settled several years ago. A woman who owned the dam had failed for years to keep it in good shape, according to one lawsuit involving her and the neighborhood.
Huguley, who left the mayor’s job last year, said fixing Arcadia Lakes Drive was an issue that remained through his entire 12-year tenure as the town’s top elected official. The topic came up so regularly the town held public meetings to discuss how to resolve the problem.
He said he worked hard to get the matter resolved, meeting with property owners and their lawyers over legal issues. But he also credited the efforts of Rep. Beth Bernstein D-Richland, who helped secure $500,000 to defray the project costs.
Bernstein said she was glad to help.
“It’s very exciting news,’’ Bernstein said, noting that sections of Arcadia Lakes Drive and another road in the area have been closed for too long. “It’s 11 years after the flood … and we’re still trying to overcome those issues. This has been long awaited.’’
Huguley said, however, that Arcadia Lakes Drive could have been fixed years ago if the DOT had wanted that to happen. He said the state Department of Transportation never seemed interested in repairing the road until after the Legislature approved money to help with the costs.
“It’s not as if the DOT couldn’t have come up with the money on their own,’’ he said, but noted that the “$500,000 made it more palatable to DOT.’’
Property owners who live around what once was a full pond behind the dam also are expected to kick in money to help pay for the private dam repairs, although the amount being spent was not known Monday.
When the work is complete, water levels should return to normal for the first time since 2012, if the state’s environmental department certifies the work.
The Department of Environmental Services did not respond to an email Monday from The State.
The long-running dispute on Arcadia Lakes Drive is one of two in the town just northeast of Columbia.
Another road – which is called Arcadia Lakes Drive East – was damaged when the 2015 flood smashed the Cary Lake dam. The dam has been rebuilt but a route across Cary Lake has not been restored and the issue remains unresolved.
The 2015 flood is one of the worst in Columbia history, overwashing intersections that rarely take on water and causing dams throughout the city, Arcadia Lakes and Forest Acres to fail. All told, nine people died in the flood in the Columbia area.
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