It’s finally about to happen! The S.C. highway department is using roughly $600 million approved by legislators to speed up the widening of rural stretches of interstates 26 and 95 that have both been declared dangerous, bottle-necked and critical to South Carolina’s economy. It’s about time interstate 95 is widening; in fact, it’s about 30 years overdue.
Drivers who travel between Charleston and Columbia will be the biggest beneficiaries with the entire corridor widened to three lanes, each direction.
Also, the first 33 miles of Interstate 95 coming into South Carolina, in both directions, should be six lanes total by 2030, which is about two years sooner than previously expected.
The widening project for I-95 is now set to begin in four months.
The checklist is now complete that includes environmental mitigation, permitting, bidding, and the most importantly the estimated $600 million it’s going to take to complete this phase of the project. This phase includes widening the federal highway from Georgia to Exit 8, Beaufort/Hilton Head.
According to WTOC, South Carolina State Senator Tom Davis, from Beaufort, has a message to local and out of town drivers.
“There’s going to be some slowdowns and so, I think patience is the watch word here, and I think patience is a lot easier to come by when people know that there are plans on the books and money in the bank,” State Sen. Davis said.
“That I-95 is going to be widened, it is going to be improved, it is going to be something that we’re proud here in South Carolina for once.”
“I talked to [the SCDOT Secretary], and she’s going to try and do a lot of the work at night, so it doesn’t impact a lot of the travelers, but it’s going to take a couple of years,” State Sen. Davis said.
The money is a combination of $453.5 million in federal COVID aid the Legislature designated to roadwork in a law signed by Gov. Henry McMaster last month, plus $133.6 million legislators allotted to rural interstates in the state budget that takes effect July 1.
“We are making a difference in infrastructure in South Carolina,” said Senator Nikki Setzler in a release, a member of the joint House-Senate panel approving DOT’s use of the federal aid. “Ten years from now, you’re not going to recognize the infrastructure in this state with the improvements being made.”
According to a feasibility report completed by SCDOT last year, the 10-mile corridor ranked among the worst of the rural interstates in freight mobility. The department also said that as the Lowcountry continues to grow, traffic on this particular portion of I-95 is anticipated to experience heavy congestion.
Anticipated? It’s been awful for years now.
SCDOT said the study area also includes 14 bridges, two existing interchanges (Exits 5 and 8), and a new proposed interchange at Exit 3 that is being completed as a separate project by the City of Hardeeville.
Northbound interstate 95 has been a huge problem over the years. The much traveled interstate is 3 lanes in Georgia, but bottlenecks as travelers approach the South Carolina state line causing a parking lot more often than not, even when there isn’t an accident.
As it stands now, when northbound travelers approach the Port Wentworth exit in Georgia, the highway shifts from 3 lanes to two, and then hits the bridge over the Savannah River. The widening will mean there will only be about a 2 mile stretch of interstate with only two lanes, then opening back up to three.
It is also a dangerous stretch of highway with numerous fatal accidents occurring each and every year, which also slows down the traffic. Interstate 95 has always needed widening/
The 2 phase plan is to widen northbound interstate 95 from the state line to the Point South Exit, 33 miles into South Carolina. This will cover every entry point into Beaufort County, making travel to Beaufort and the sea islands much safer, and much quicker, and will also allow better traffic flow and management during our hurricane evacuations.
