Widening I-85 Delayed to Broaden Project

Interstate 85 widening in upstate is delayed to more carefully study broader highway options

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Spartanburg commuter Devon Hunt has to drive to Mauldin several times a week for work.

He goes to the office at 7 a.m. and heads home before the afternoon rush hour because the 85 traffic is horrendous during rush hour.

A major construction project to ease congestion on I-85 – and enabled Hunt to keep a more normal work schedule – has been delayed until the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) reassesses spending priorities for the coming years and traffic challenges in the broader region.

State Secretary of Transportation Justin Powell said the proposed project – which would have included an additional northbound and southbound lane between mile markers 40 and 69 – was part of a long-range plan developed 18 years ago.

Since then, the state’s needs have become exponentially more complicated, Powell said.

“We’re looking at things from a statewide perspective,” he said, adding that South Carolina has seen population growth in the Upstate, but also in such areas as York County near Charlotte and the coast, especially Beaufort and Horry counties.

He said the state spends between $400-500 million a year on interstate projects.

Ongoing projects include the widening of Interstate 26 in the heavily congested section north of Columbia as well as between Columbia and Charleston and the widening of Interstate 95 near the Georgia border.

Meanwhile, Powell said traffic engineers have developed new strategies that focus on “more than just adding lanes.”

He said interchange improvements can help to move traffic through busy areas more efficiently.

Powell pointed to the redevelopment of the interchange at I-85 and I-385 in Greenville as well as the ongoing project to create a “diverging diamond” intersection (see image) where Highway 290 crosses over I-85 in Duncan.   

“It’s not always about lane capacity,” he said.

The SCDOT's strategies to address congestion on I-85 haven't been enough, said Manning Lynch, who makes frequent round trips between Spartanburg and Anderson to see family.

"I-85 around Greenville is almost 100 percent reliably bad," he said. "It's frustrating."

Lynch is chairman of the Spartanburg County Council and a member of the Spartanburg Area Transportation Study (SPATS) policy committee. He is critical of what he views as a lack of effective overall planning on the part of the SCDOT, but he said he isn't sure whether adding more lanes to I-85 is the best answer.

Lynch would like to see Highway 296, which runs roughly parallel to I-85, expanded to four lanes all the way between Spartanburg and Woodruff Road in Greenville.

"It would be helpful to have that option," as an alternative to the busy interstate, he said.

Like Lynch, Hunt isn't convinced that widening I-85 would be the best remedy for traffic-weary commuters. He's got his own creative solution in mind: "You know what would make the difference? High-speed railway from Charlotte to Atlanta. That's what I'd like to see.