Greenville Approves One-Cent Tax for Road Work

The sales tax will fund community safety and infrastructure projects, including a planned overhaul of Wade Hampton Boulevard.

Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Philanthropy

Greenville Approves One-Cent Tax for Road Work

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Do you support Greenville's one-cent sales tax for road and bridge repairs?

Greenville approved a one-cent sales tax aimed at community safety and infrastructure. The city plans to allocate approximately $20 million from the tax revenue to overhaul Wade Hampton Boulevard.

Why it matters

Years of congestion complaints prompted the city's plan to redesign Wade Hampton Boulevard. The tax is designed to ease traffic flow and improve pedestrian crossings across Greenville.

The approved one-cent sales tax carries an estimated $11 million Queen Street bridge replacement cost and roughly $20 million earmarked for Wade Hampton Boulevard. City officials have not confirmed whether all projects will be finished before the tax expires in eight years.

The details

The tax revenue targets projects intended to ease traffic flow and improve pedestrian crossings. Planned work includes replacing the Queen Street bridge, which connects the Southernside and West Greenville neighborhoods, and improvements at Coffee Street and Main Street.

The sales tax is set to expire in eight years.

Big Picture

Greenville's measure follows South Carolina's local option one-cent sales tax model, which funds discrete capital projects through revenue that expires on a set schedule. Like similar time-limited levies, the tax ties its fate to whether projects are completed before the sunset date.

Residents will see road and pedestrian improvements funded by the one-cent sales tax on purchases during its eight-year life. Drivers using Wade Hampton Boulevard, the Queen Street bridge, or the Coffee Street and Main Street intersection can expect the projects to reshape their routes as work proceeds.

The takeaway

Local sales taxes with fixed sunset dates tie infrastructure promises to a deadline, so watching whether projects finish on schedule is a useful way to track their results.