Beaufort County to pave series of dirt roads. Is the one in front of your house on the list?

If you live off one of Beaufort County’s dirt roads, cruising into your neighborhood could soon get a little less dusty — or less muddy, depending on the weather.

The Beaufort County Council unanimously voted Monday evening to approve a pair of contracts to pave roughly 4.7 miles of dirt roads, mainly in the northern portions of the county.

The paving projects come with a combined price tag of more than $5.1 million.

▪ In the Bluffton area, portions of Devonwood Drive will be paved, according to county engineering documents.

▪ On St. Helena Island, the contract covers portions of Almond Drive, Mary Small Road and Shiney Road.

▪ In Dale, a segment of Coker Lane is set to be paved.

▪ In Sheldon, a portion of Albertha Fields Circle is included in the paving project.

▪ In the Port Royal area, a segment of Butler Farm Road is set to be paved.

▪ On Lady’s Island, the county’s dirt road paving project includes parts of Johnson Landing Road and Trotter’s Loop.

Beaufort County engineering director Rob McFee said Monday that once these projects are complete, there will be fewer than 90 miles of county-maintained dirt roads remaining.

Funding for the paving projects will come from gas tax revenues funneled from the state through the county’s transportation committee, McFee said during a meeting of the County Council’s Public Facilities Committee Monday afternoon.

Two companies — J. H. Hiers Construction Company of Beaufort and Preferred Materials, Inc. of Savannah — were the only two firms to bid on the pair of contracts, with each company securing one.

Some members of the County Council expressed mild concern that there weren’t more bids, particularly given last year’s engineering estimates of the paving projects were several hundred thousand dollars less expensive.

“The engineer’s estimate was a lot less than the contract we are being asked to approve,” Councilman Steve Fobes said, but he noted that “there is not a big contingency of companies out there doing this kind of work.”

McFee said, “I think we are doing the best we can in terms of getting competitive bids in our market.”

Estimating prices for these types of projects “is not a perfect science,” he said.

County Councilman Stu Rodman said getting the contracts approved Monday was “a little bit time sensitive” because Tropical Storm Irma forced the board to postpone a meeting earlier this month.

While there is no specific start date for the paving work, McFee said, “We want to get this going as soon as possible.”

This story was originally published September 25, 2017 at 8:05 PM with the headline "Beaufort County to pave series of dirt roads. Is the one in front of your house on the list?."