Two bridges in Lexington County and one just across the county line in Richland are among 157 the state Department of Transportation will soon target for repair or replacement as part of its proposed 2021-22 Closed and Load Restricted Program.

These include the U.S. Route 21/ Charleston Highway bridge over Congaree Creek in Cayce, which is slated for replacement, along with the S.C. Route 35/12th Street Extension bridge over Interstate 77 in West Columbia and the U.S. Route 76/Dutch Fork Road bridge over railroad tracks near Dreher Shoals Road in Irmo, both of which are slated for repair.

The department is seeking public comment on its ranked priority list of 24 closed bridges and 133 load-restricted primary route bridges through Jan. 3. The list and info on how to submit feedback can be found bit.ly/SCDOTBridgeProgram. .

At present, the department anticipates that the replacement of the Charleston Highway bridge will begin in late 2022, with repair projects for the 12th Street Extension and Dutch Fork Road bridges occurring in 2023.

“As a result of the passage of the Roads Bill in 2017 by the state legislature, SCDOT used a portion of the new state funding in conjunction with federal funding to set our original 10-year plan target for Bridges at 465,” the department said in a written statement to the Chronicle. “This target was focused on two areas: closed and load restricted bridges as well as structurally deficient bridges on the interstate and primary road networks.”

The department clarified that it has updated the 10-year target plan from an original goal of 465 bridges to 500 bridges following its recent completion of a new bridge load rating program and the passage of the Federal Infrastructure Bill. Of these, the department is prioritizing work on the closed and primary-route bridges. There are no secondary-route bridges currently targeted for work in Lexington County.

“SCDOT has completed 164 bridge replacements with 53 currently under construction with a revised 10-year target of 500 bridges by 2027,” the department said.

The department offered assurance that drivers shouldn’t be concerned about traveling across the three local bridges targeted for replacement or repair.

“Regarding the three bridges specifically mentioned in this inquiry, while all are either currently load restricted, or in the process of being load restricted, they are of course all safe,” the department said.