Upstate toll road responds with financial highs after bankruptcy
Following a bankruptcy restructuring in 2011, the Southern Connector rebounded with financial success last year.
Officials with the roadway released information detailing the high points of 2013 including 4.6 million processed transactions, an all-time high of $6.9 million in revenue collected, an all-time high of $134,663 collected for toll violations, and $28,300 deposited into the Bond Prepayment Fund.
The year’s highlights also included the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) receiving 10 percent of the annual proceeds for its Renewal and Replacement Fund, while all three tiers of the bonds were paid in full as required.
The Connector 2000 Association contributes a portion of its annual revenue to the SCDOT’s Replacement and Renewal Fund for maintenance on the toll road.
“We are pleased with our progress in 2013,” said Bill Carpenter, chairman of the Connector 2000 Association. “Our general manager, Pete Femia, and his staff have exceeded most observers’ expectations in our second year of operation after the bond restructuring.”
Femia said the economy is improving and the public is using the connector more often to avoid the high traffic along Highway 385 and Laurens Road.
The connector is a public-private partnership in that it is a public road paid for with private funds, he said. Until recently, the revenues were not sufficient to support the bonds for the toll road and had to be restructured through bankruptcy.
