Skip to main content

SCDOT to close 15 miles of northbound I-385 next week until August

SCDOT is preparing to close 15 miles of northbound Interstate 385 next week for the next eight months as part of a major rehab/upgrade project.

The project's site is here:
http://www.i385rehab.com/

"The second phase of the project will encompass the rehabilitation of I-385 northbound from mile post 0 to 14.9 and the bridge replacement of the flyover bridge that connects I-26 westbound to I-385 northbound. I-385 northbound will be closed from I-26 to SC Route 101, and will be detoured up I-26 to I-85, and all access to northbound I-385 from the crossing routes between I-26 and SC 101 will also be closed. This will allow the contractor to rehabilitate I-385 northbound quickly without the presence of traffic. Four crossovers will be constructed in the median prior to the completion of construction activities associated with the rehabilitation on I-385 northbound. Two will be at the US Route 221 interchange with the other two crossovers at opposite ends of the project on I-385. These crossovers will be utilized to relocate I-385 southbound traffic onto the newly rehabilitated I-385 northbound lanes.

The third phase of the project will encompass the rehabilitation of I-385 southbound from mile post 0 to 14.9 and the completion of the bridge replacement of the flyover bridge that connects I-26 westbound to I-385 northbound. Southbound traffic will be transferred to the newly rehabilitated I-385 northbound lanes using the crossovers outlined in the second phase. The only access to southbound I-385 will remain at the northern crossover and the US Route 221 crossover during rehabilitation of I-385 southbound. I-385 northbound will continue to be detoured up I-26 to I-85.

The interstate rehabilitation and flyover bridge replacement projects are scheduled to be let together as one project in August of 2009 with a target completion date in August of 2010. The contractor will not be allowed to close I-385 northbound and institute the detour up I-26 until January of 2010 and will have approximately eight months to complete construction activities."

This will be the first time SCDOT has closed an interstate entirely over an extended time period for a construction project.

The decision isn't without controversy - as many motorists, businesses, and of course politicians have voiced their displeasure. SCDOT maintains that the $60.9 million project would have cost nearly $35 million more and last months longer if they followed the more traditional single lane closure construction methods.

Additional stories:
http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20091213/BUSINESS/912130318/Drivers-face-long-I-385-detour-in-new-year
http://www.greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009912210313

Comments

Puggg said…
I think you can blame it on: (1) MoDOT closing I-64/US 40 in St. Louis for long stretches one year at a time for rebuilding, and (2) Ibid. for I-40 in Knoxville. DOTs are faddish, and the success of those two projects without any major inconvienience has taught them all that outright closures are the way to go.

Popular posts from this blog

The case to move Interstate 73 in Southern Ohio onto US 33

Every decade or so, Ohio pushes to revisit the proposed Interstate 73 that would connect Michigan to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  It's been happening since Congress legislated the route in 1991.  Within Ohio, Interstate 73 generally follows the US 23 corridor from Portsmouth through Columbus to Toledo, and into Michigan. Since High Priority Corridor Five was created , Ohio has really done nothing to move forward with Interstate 73.  Sure, there have been feasibility studies here and there.  But actual dollars and construction just haven't occurred. The US 33 Nelsonville Bypass appears to have been built to Interstate standards. However, Ohio has been slowly upgrading US 33 to a full freeway through Southeastern Ohio.  Bypasses of Lancaster and Nelsonville opened in 2004 and 2013, respectively.  Other sections of two-lane road are being twinned, some to freeway or, at a minimum, to expressway standards.  Currently, a $274 million widening project in...

Local Sign Find - The last remnant of Business Interstate 95 between Kenly and Rocky Mount , NC

As you head north on Interstate 95 at Exit 107 for Kenly and US 301, you'll notice something odd about the overhead sign for the exit.  Peeling off the sign for all that can see is the word 'NORTH' off-center from the US 301.  This old sign (probably close to original from when this section of I-95 opened - more on that in a little bit) gives a hint to a short-lived Business Interstate Route that ran from here to Rocky Mount. The last hint of the Kenly-Wilson-Rocky Mount Business I-95 (Shaun White - August 2020) Interstate 95 in North Carolina has a unique history.  But one of the overlooked and forgotten pieces of Interstate 95 in North Carolina is the 38 mile section between Kenly and Rocky Mount.  When opened to traffic in late 1978, it was the next to last piece of Interstate 95 in North Carolina to open replacing a four lane US 301 from Battleboro through Rocky Mount and Wilson to eventually tying back into the Interstate in Kenly. Though it was not delayed in l...

Nostalgia fast food with style - Returning to Rax

Nostalgia. It sells. It evokes, and more accurately, warps memories of days gone by.  Things were better, simpler, and we eat it up. Nostalgia can make you drive three hours and over a hundred miles out of your way just to reconnect with a dying fast-food restaurant you last enjoyed in the early to mid-90s.  That person was me - that restaurant was Rax. I could go on about Rax's history, but in short, Rax was briefly a very popular roast beef fast-food chain.  Growing up in the 80s and early 90s in Western PA, Rax was the good fast-food spot.  The milkshakes.  (Personally, the chocolate chip milkshake was heaven.)  Uncle Alligator Kids Meal with the chocolate chip cookie. Take that McDonald's Happy Meal!  The fancy salad and hot foods bar.  Going to Rax was special.  Like so many similar restaurants, various investments, management decisions, etc., led Rax to almost disappear overnight.  By the time I graduated college in late 1999, abou...