YORK — After months of debate, York County Council will proceed with a 20-yearold highway-widening project that has ignited community members for months.

In a 5 to 2 vote, council members agreed to move forward with the widening of Highway 557 project, a state road that cuts across the northern part of York County, even if does will drain nearby pond.

“At the end of the day, ya’ll have waited 20 years on this thing,” councilmember Tom Audette told the crowd. “Your time has come for this.”

Residents packed into the York County Chambers for the meeting on Aug. 21.

Fifteen minutes before the 6 p.m. meeting started, every seat was taken, forcing some to stand or watch in an overflow room. Four hours later, when discussion about the road project finally began, nearly every seat was still filled.

Some waved green and white paper signs that read “Widen Highway 557,” “Safety over frogs” and “Screw the frog pond.”

Others wore bright green t- shirts reading “Save the Pond @ Woodend Farm.”

In Lake Wylie, a fast-growing area near Charlotte where the population has risen by 150 percent in the past decade, controversy has brewed for months over whether to move forward with a taxpayer-funded highway-widening project that was initially approved in 2003.

The tension began in April after Department of Transportation Secretary Christy Hall rescinded the project’s approval.

To some, the road isn’t just a luxury — it’s a necessity to alleviate traffic, stop crashes and deal with the growth flooding the area.

To others, the widening project will destroy a pond that represents the nature that makes Lake Wylie unique.

They have expressed worry about a widening project that is 20 years old, with hopes of devising a new design that better fits the current community.

Since the permits were pulled in April, Councilmember Allison Love has publicly fought to save the pond, now owned by the county, calling it “a community asset.”

“We’re struggling for quality of life,” she said of the growth in her district, “just like fish.”

During the council meeting, she argued that she did not intend to stop the widening project, but she called on her colleagues to reconsider the design of the road that could find a middle ground.

“Acknowledge the need for both the pond at Woodend Farm and … the widening of Highway 557, that allows the best outcome for everyone,” she said to her fellow councilmembers.

But York County Management recommended that councilmembers vote to “unconditionally” reinstate the permits and start the highway-widening project as previously designed — without any delays.

Multiple council members noted problems with considering another road design after waiting 20 years.

Most said they couldn’t support the financial cost of further delaying the project after already spending millions and years to develop the current design.

“In the best interest of time, in the best interest of money,” councilmember William “Bump” Roddey said. “I think it’s best that we move forward.”

Council Chairman Christi Cox said she worried about the precedent council could set by altering a Pennies for Progress project voted by residents multiple times.

“We have to honor what the voters have chosen,” Cox said.

“And I do think it’s dangerous for us to vote on this at all.”

Since being built in 1942, Highway 557 has served as a central corridor for the northern half of York County.

The nearly seven-mile state highway weaves from Lake Wylie to the Clover area, with many schools, businesses and subdivisions sitting along the road.

There has been just one issue: The highway has only two lanes.

In 1997, York County established Pennies for Progress, a one percent sales tax on all goods and services to fund road construction — the first of its kind in South Carolina. Every seven years, taxpayers provide input on a slate of projects across the county before voting.

In 2003, residents voted to widen a two-mile stretch along Highway 557 from two to three lanes as part of the second installment of the Pennies for Progress program.

But the road was never widened, as other projects took priority, delaying its funding.

In the meantime, Lake Wylie kept growing. From 2010 to 2020, the population jumped from 8,431 to 13,655, sending the school district scrambling to construct new buildings and forcing the county government to place a moratorium on new subdivisions and apartment complexes.

Residents in Lake Wylie didn’t forget about Highway 557. In 2011, citizens voted again to widen the road. This time, they chose to extend the highway to five lanes to compensate for the growth.

In 2021, the county purchased the farm next to Highway 557, now called Woodend Farm, where the pond is situated.

They hoped to turn it into a public greenspace.

After more than a decade, the project finally seemed on track within the past year.

The final designs were developed.

The county planned to bid this summer and start construction in September.

But then the Secretary of the Department of Transportation, Christy Hall, rescinded approval of the plans in April.

She said she heard concerns about a nearby pond and the new highway’s potential impact to the neighbors along the road.

For months, the council held multiple executive sessions on the matter.

But on Aug. 21, the discussion finally emerged in front of the public. Now, the county will restart the process of widening the road.