/// Accomplishments

■ Strategic Management Plan: SCDOT’s Strategic Management Plan is a living document establishing an initial baseline of data, and with the continued development of business plans, supports the overarching goals of SCDOT. The Plan also serves as a critical source document for other significant statewide reports to the Governor and the General Assembly.

■ Statewide Multimodal Transportation Plan: SCDOT finalized its 2040 Statewide Multimodal Transportation Plan which defines total multimodal needs through 2040. Five stand-alone, core elements include an Interstate Plan, a Freight Plan, a Strategic Corridors Plan, a Statewide Rail Plan and a Statewide Transit Plan. These elements define the networks and strategies for linking transportation investment to existing and projected economic development.

■ Cypress Gardens Road Emergency Bridge Replacement: A train derailment beneath this 78-year old bridge caused the structure to collapse. An emergency contract with incentives resulted in a replacement bridge open to traffic less than six months later, three weeks ahead of schedule and 19% under budget. SCDOT’s design-build team of Cape Romain Contractors; Johnson, Mirmiran and Thompson; and S&ME received ACEC-SC’s Palmetto Award for Engineering Excellence.

/// New Initiatives

■ Employee Development and Recognition: SCDOT’s focus on its workforce includes a new “Pay for Performance Program” to recognize and reward consistent, high quality work in support of SCDOT’s Strategic Direction. We have expanded employee development opportunities through enhanced internal training and partnerships with South Carolina’s state universities and technical colleges.

■ I-85/I-385 Gateway Interchange: Work is underway on the second largest project in the history of the state which will transform highway infrastructure in the Greenville metropolitan area with a new, reconfigured I-85/I-385 interchange for 200,000 average annual daily travelers.

■ Bridge Monitoring System Grant: An FHWA Accountability Innovation Deployment grant in the amount of $983,880 received in April of 2015 will expand SCDOT’s current structural health monitoring capabilities and will hopefully demonstrate viability and benefits to other states.

/// Looking Ahead

■ Project Prioritization Process: SCDOT’s prioritization process, mandated by the General Assembly in 2007, established nine criteria for objectively ranking highway and bridge projects. SCDOT is now updating the data-driven, prioritization process methodology to place greater emphasis on economic development and freight needs, focusing on the performance of priority networks and using the new Transportation Asset Management Plan to aid in optimizing and allocating resources.

■ Continued Dialogue on Funding Needs with the General Assembly: Many bills were introduced in the SC General Assembly this year to address transportation infrastructure. While nothing has passed yet, the dialogue has created great interest among citizens and business partners from the private sector and is one of the Legislature’s top priorities. SCDOT expects the debate to continue into 2016 and hopes to see new state revenue opportunities from it.

■ Greer Inland Port: Opened November 2013; overnight services from the Upstate to the Port.