City of Aiken holds public meeting about long-awaited Powderhouse Road Connector

AIKEN, SC. (WJBF) – City leaders have been talking about it for years , and tonight a chance to discuss a major project for Aiken’s Southside.

“This project has been on the books since the mid-2000s, there was a study done — county sponsored, city ​involvement–to try to alleviate traffic on Whiskey Road,” said City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh.

Last year, Aiken City Council announced its plans to move forward with the Powderhouse Connector Project.

The total cost is nearly $40 Million, which is covered by state, local, and federal funds.

The project includes improvements to Powderhouse Road South from East Pine Log Road for 0.25 miles, and construction of 1.1 miles of new roadway extending South and connecting to the South Centennial Avenue Connector.

The first phase will extend Centennial Avenue and expand Oak Grove Road–leaders getting feedback from the public at the meeting about the project’s second phase.

“This public input session is very valuable as part of the process to construct the second phase of the road, which will go from where the proposed traffic circle is in the first phase, all the way to where Powderhouse and Old Powderhouse intersect over to East Pine Log Road,” said Bedenbaugh.

Those living in the area have mixed feelings about the plans.

“I think it’s going to take some pressure off some of those side streets to the East, like Old Powderhouse,” said James Knight. “So that’s going to be a good thing. It’s going to provide a reduction I think in traffic on Whiskey Road–which is absurd sometimes. There are times when I go out on Whiskey Road, and I say there’s no reason to be out here.”

“There’s been a lot of housing developments out to the West, along Pine Log Road. This is East of Pine Log Road​ — it won’t do anything for me in my opinion,” said Bill Collins. “It may reduce traffic on Whiskey Road, which I may need to use from time to time. That would be a good thing, if it does that’s great.”

“It’s something that needs to be addressed, and I’m proud of how we’re being proactive and coming up with a solution that I think will help alleviate but also not create a second Whiskey Road–that’s important too,” Bedenbaugh said.

The connector project is getting closer to becoming a reality, but leaders say they’ll get more input before moving forward.

Bedenbaugh says they hope to take action with the next phase of the project towards the end of 2025 and into 2026.

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