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SC: I-95 widening projects

Started by afguy, January 23, 2017, 07:44:13 PM

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afguy

IMO, long overdue...
QuoteThat initial estimate includes widening about 190 miles of the interstate to three lanes in each direction from the state's border with Georgia to the border with North Carolina, replacing bridges along the interstate and improving interchanges.

But it could be years before the state has enough money to pay for the widening project. The project also would have to rank high enough on Transportation Department priority lists to be fixed.

I-95 bottlenecks in South Carolina, especially during high-trafficked holiday weekends. The three-lane road in Georgia shrinks to two lanes entering the Palmetto State.

"A project of that magnitude, first of all, would be unprecedented,"  Transportation Department Secretary Christy Hall said at the annual meeting of the S.C. Alliance to Fix Our Roads, a group of road contractors and consultants who want more money spent on road-building projects. The widening project likely would be completed in segments and phases, she said.

Federal money eventually could pay for part of the project.

"I do believe the (President Donald) Trump administration is serious about an infrastructure program,"  Hall said.

The Transportation Department is in the process of updating its priority list for interstate improvements. It plans to unveil that list in the coming months, Hall said.

Rural parts of I-95 are included in the Transportation Department's $50 million-a-year plan to make rural roads safer. That plan, unveiled last week, includes spending money to re-paint pavement markings, installing rumble strips to alert drivers they are near the road's edge and widening road shoulders to give drivers time to correct if they run off the road.

However, the agency has said it needs added state or federal dollars to pay for those improvements.

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article128186934.html#storylink=cpy
http://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article128186934.html


AlexandriaVA

Based on everything I've heard about the new Administration's road funding, get ready for the South Carolina Turnpike.

plain

Quote from: AlexandriaVA on January 23, 2017, 07:46:24 PM
Based on everything I've heard about the new Administration's road funding, get ready for the South Carolina Turnpike.
:-D :-D :-D :-D :-D
Newark born, Richmond bred

jwolfer

Quote from: AlexandriaVA on January 23, 2017, 07:46:24 PM
Based on everything I've heard about the new Administration's road funding, get ready for the South Carolina Turnpike.
I think any large freeway projects anywhere in the us from now on will be tolled with very few exceptions

LGMS428

AlexandriaVA

Quote from: plain on January 23, 2017, 08:14:47 PM
Quote from: AlexandriaVA on January 23, 2017, 07:46:24 PM
Based on everything I've heard about the new Administration's road funding, get ready for the South Carolina Turnpike.
:-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

I don't follow. To wit:

http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/315110-ryan-offers-picture-of-private-public-spending-in-trumps-infrastructure

QuotePresident-elect Donald Trump's massive infrastructure package should have $40 of private-sector spending for every $1 of public spending, according to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.)

Private money's gonna wanna recoup its investment, and:

QuoteThere has been mounting concern, particularly among Democrats and rural Republicans, that relying on private financing would only attract projects that can recoup investment costs through tolls or user fees.

Henry

That would make a worthwhile project for all those long drives from Richmond, Washington and points north to Savannah, Jacksonville and points south.
Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Go! Hey Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today!

adventurernumber1

I would honestly love to see Interstate 95 widened in South Carolina. I have also asserted that it would not be a bad idea to widen all of Interstate 26 in South Carolina east of Columbia.
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The Ghostbuster

Would the potential widening of Interstate 26 between Columbia and Charleston also be funded by tolls?

Mapmikey

Quote from: The Ghostbuster on January 24, 2017, 05:36:04 PM
Would the potential widening of Interstate 26 between Columbia and Charleston also be funded by tolls?

I think I-95 in SC has the same dynamic as I-95 in NC...large portion of its traffic is out of state.

I-26 on the other hand is almost certainly in-state traffic for a large portion.  This would suggest that tolling would be a better plan for 95 to lessen the burden on SC citizens and be worth the cost for the state to pay for anything done to I-26.

On the third hand, unless this potential new infrastructure program changes the rules about tolling interstates, slapping toll booths up on South Carolina interstates is a low probability outcome...

rickmastfan67

If anything, SC should at least 3-lane I-95 from GA to the first exit.  That alone could help out a lot.

VTGoose

Quote from: adventurernumber1 on January 24, 2017, 04:40:49 PM
I would honestly love to see Interstate 95 widened in South Carolina. I have also asserted that it would not be a bad idea to widen all of Interstate 26 in South Carolina east of Columbia.

If there were ever roads that needed more lanes, those two are them. Both are horrible around any holiday, especially with an hint of weather (rain sprinkles seem to give some drivers fits; they slow down and can't move from the left lane). We had the misfortune of having to go that route from Southwest Virginia to Florida right before Christmas -- I-95 went from a crawl to speedway and back to crawl depending on what drivers were where and how much room there was to pass in the right lane. As soon as the road widened out at the Georgia line, there was more than enough space for the volume of traffic and it was smooth sailing.

Bruce in Blacksburg
"Get in the fast lane, grandma!  The bingo game is ready to roll!"

adventurernumber1

#11
I think that widening all of Interstate 95 from South Carolina to the Northeast Megalopolis would be a remarkable project. IIRC, I-95 is already 6 lanes from Richmond, VA to Washington D.C., so the next step would just be widening it in South Carolina, North Carolina, and southern Virginia.
Now alternating between different highway shields for my avatar - my previous highway shield avatar for the last few years was US 76.

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AlexandriaVA

Sounds like a vanity solution in search of a problem. Rural freeways don't need to be that wide.

NJRoadfan

Have you ever driven I-95 south of Petersburg, VA? Bruce's description is 100% spot on, I dealt with the random backups in Virginia and North Carolina until I got off in Rocky Mount after Christmas. Summer weekends are no different. Its a very stressful drive overall and I can't imagine doing it the rest of the way thru NC and SC.

I have been avoiding I-85 due to reconstruction in Warren and Vance Counties in NC, but I might just go back to that route since it might actually be faster even with the cattle chute setup.

froggie

I have.  Fairly considerably.  In my experience, I-95 is more hype than reality.  Sure the traffic is annoying, but it's not at a level that warrants spending 9 or 10 digits on a massive widening project.  More targeted widenings where needed (thinking mainly across the Savannah, through Lumberton, and Eastover to Wilson) may be useful, but anything beyond that would be a burning of scarce highway dollars.

Now if the states want to turn I-95 into a toll road instead to fund widening, they can knock themselves out.

AlexandriaVA

Quote from: NJRoadfan on January 27, 2017, 12:29:44 AM
Have you ever driven I-95 south of Petersburg, VA? Bruce's description is 100% spot on, I dealt with the random backups in Virginia and North Carolina until I got off in Rocky Mount after Christmas. Summer weekends are no different. Its a very stressful drive overall and I can't imagine doing it the rest of the way thru NC and SC.

I have been avoiding I-85 due to reconstruction in Warren and Vance Counties in NC, but I might just go back to that route since it might actually be faster even with the cattle chute setup.

So we're going to spend $4 billion for random backups, summer weekends (39 days out of the year), and Christmas (let's say 7 days of Holiday driving conditions).

$4 Billion for 46 days, while the other 320 days are fine. Seems like a waste of money compared to chronically-congested transportation.

It's sort of like power plants...it's ineffiecient to build up to the highest conceivable capacity just to meet demand for a few days a year. Traffic sucks but everyone has to deal with it sometimes.

jeffandnicole

Quote from: AlexandriaVA on January 27, 2017, 10:15:55 AM
Quote from: NJRoadfan on January 27, 2017, 12:29:44 AM
Have you ever driven I-95 south of Petersburg, VA? Bruce's description is 100% spot on, I dealt with the random backups in Virginia and North Carolina until I got off in Rocky Mount after Christmas. Summer weekends are no different. Its a very stressful drive overall and I can't imagine doing it the rest of the way thru NC and SC.

I have been avoiding I-85 due to reconstruction in Warren and Vance Counties in NC, but I might just go back to that route since it might actually be faster even with the cattle chute setup.

So we're going to spend $4 billion for random backups, summer weekends (39 days out of the year), and Christmas (let's say 7 days of Holiday driving conditions).

$4 Billion for 46 days, while the other 320 days are fine. Seems like a waste of money compared to chronically-congested transportation.

It's sort of like power plants...it's ineffiecient to build up to the highest conceivable capacity just to meet demand for a few days a year. Traffic sucks but everyone has to deal with it sometimes.

I agree with this.  In many, many areas of the country, there are backups on summer weekends and holidays. 

In my toll plaza days, one person asked me on a summer weekend why there is so much traffic.  Glancing at their out-of-state vehicle, I see the kids, the luggage, etc...  I ask if they're going on vacation...they say Yes.  I said, "So is everyone else".  People constantly look at themselves in a bubble, and fail to see the bigger picture that, surprise surprise, they are not the only ones doing what they're doing.

AlexandriaVA

Quote from: jeffandnicole on January 27, 2017, 10:47:11 AM
Quote from: AlexandriaVA on January 27, 2017, 10:15:55 AM
Quote from: NJRoadfan on January 27, 2017, 12:29:44 AM
Have you ever driven I-95 south of Petersburg, VA? Bruce's description is 100% spot on, I dealt with the random backups in Virginia and North Carolina until I got off in Rocky Mount after Christmas. Summer weekends are no different. Its a very stressful drive overall and I can't imagine doing it the rest of the way thru NC and SC.

I have been avoiding I-85 due to reconstruction in Warren and Vance Counties in NC, but I might just go back to that route since it might actually be faster even with the cattle chute setup.

So we're going to spend $4 billion for random backups, summer weekends (39 days out of the year), and Christmas (let's say 7 days of Holiday driving conditions).

$4 Billion for 46 days, while the other 320 days are fine. Seems like a waste of money compared to chronically-congested transportation.

It's sort of like power plants...it's ineffiecient to build up to the highest conceivable capacity just to meet demand for a few days a year. Traffic sucks but everyone has to deal with it sometimes.

I agree with this.  In many, many areas of the country, there are backups on summer weekends and holidays. 

In my toll plaza days, one person asked me on a summer weekend why there is so much traffic.  Glancing at their out-of-state vehicle, I see the kids, the luggage, etc...  I ask if they're going on vacation...they say Yes.  I said, "So is everyone else".  People constantly look at themselves in a bubble, and fail to see the bigger picture that, surprise surprise, they are not the only ones doing what they're doing.

People complain about traffic not realizing they're traffic.  :pan:

adventurernumber1

Quote from: AlexandriaVA on January 23, 2017, 07:46:24 PM
Based on everything I've heard about the new Administration's road funding, get ready for the South Carolina Turnpike.

Quote from: froggie on January 27, 2017, 09:50:33 AM
Now if the states want to turn I-95 into a toll road instead to fund widening, they can knock themselves out.

Call me a widening junkie, but I would support something like tolling I-95 to get it widened throughout the Southeast. I would be open to that.
Now alternating between different highway shields for my avatar - my previous highway shield avatar for the last few years was US 76.

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CanesFan27

So I'm typing this response while we are driving up 95 this morning.  (My wife is driving.)

1) 95 is predictable for high traffic volumes on weekends and Friday evenings. Other than that it's because of a wreck. Or you are negotiating through some slow moving traffic.
2) there is higher volumes of local traffic from Kenly to Eastover (which is the now nearly 60 year old stretch of 95) specifically Smithfield/Selma and dunn/benson. Plus the design of the highway doesn't help either.
3) I would also say the same about Lumberton and the Roanoke Rapids area.

I'm also not a fan of 95 but my issues are more the stretch south of I-40 to the Fayetteville Bypass.

95 in NC  needs upgrades and elimination of some outdated interchanges, mullti lane widening a definite need for about half its length.  Though I agree that widening all of it is a top priority - it doesn't hurt to have the additional capacity ready to go for when it is needed.


Plutonic Panda

Quote from: AlexandriaVA on January 27, 2017, 10:15:55 AM
Quote from: NJRoadfan on January 27, 2017, 12:29:44 AM
Have you ever driven I-95 south of Petersburg, VA? Bruce's description is 100% spot on, I dealt with the random backups in Virginia and North Carolina until I got off in Rocky Mount after Christmas. Summer weekends are no different. Its a very stressful drive overall and I can't imagine doing it the rest of the way thru NC and SC.

I have been avoiding I-85 due to reconstruction in Warren and Vance Counties in NC, but I might just go back to that route since it might actually be faster even with the cattle chute setup.

So we're going to spend $4 billion for random backups, summer weekends (39 days out of the year), and Christmas (let's say 7 days of Holiday driving conditions).

$4 Billion for 46 days, while the other 320 days are fine. Seems like a waste of money compared to chronically-congested transportation.

It's sort of like power plants...it's ineffiecient to build up to the highest conceivable capacity just to meet demand for a few days a year. Traffic sucks but everyone has to deal with it sometimes.
it's 3 lanes each way. That's not really that wide.

Absolutely they should spend the money to widen it to improve traffic for those 46 days out of the year which I'm also willing to bet it's clogged more than that.

I haven't driven on this interstate, but based off of the traffic counts I've seen in some areas and what people on this thread have said, it definitely needs it.

When Texas widened I-35 from DFW to Austin, it made that interstate a joy to drive on compared to what it was when it was four lanes. Every once in awhile maybe an occasional backup and as you said, everyone should expect traffic especially in cities.

That doesn't mean don't invest more on the freeways and I know you didn't say that though prioritizing freeways projects is very subjective and I-95 is a major and important stretch of interstate and I don't see anything wrong with investing in it even if it just makes some weekends better even though it will do much more than that.

jeffandnicole

Quote from: Plutonic Panda on January 28, 2017, 08:04:12 PM
Quote from: AlexandriaVA on January 27, 2017, 10:15:55 AM
Quote from: NJRoadfan on January 27, 2017, 12:29:44 AM
Have you ever driven I-95 south of Petersburg, VA? Bruce's description is 100% spot on, I dealt with the random backups in Virginia and North Carolina until I got off in Rocky Mount after Christmas. Summer weekends are no different. Its a very stressful drive overall and I can't imagine doing it the rest of the way thru NC and SC.

I have been avoiding I-85 due to reconstruction in Warren and Vance Counties in NC, but I might just go back to that route since it might actually be faster even with the cattle chute setup.

So we're going to spend $4 billion for random backups, summer weekends (39 days out of the year), and Christmas (let's say 7 days of Holiday driving conditions).

$4 Billion for 46 days, while the other 320 days are fine. Seems like a waste of money compared to chronically-congested transportation.

It's sort of like power plants...it's ineffiecient to build up to the highest conceivable capacity just to meet demand for a few days a year. Traffic sucks but everyone has to deal with it sometimes.
it's 3 lanes each way. That's not really that wide.

Absolutely they should spend the money to widen it to improve traffic for those 46 days out of the year which I'm also willing to bet it's clogged more than that.

I haven't driven on this interstate, but based off of the traffic counts I've seen in some areas and what people on this thread have said, it definitely needs it.

When Texas widened I-35 from DFW to Austin, it made that interstate a joy to drive on compared to what it was when it was four lanes. Every once in awhile maybe an occasional backup and as you said, everyone should expect traffic especially in cities.

That doesn't mean don't invest more on the freeways and I know you didn't say that though prioritizing freeways projects is very subjective and I-95 is a major and important stretch of interstate and I don't see anything wrong with investing in it even if it just makes some weekends better even though it will do much more than that.

While I-95 is important in many areas along the East Coast, in South Carolina, it's not really near any major cities.  It's true that 3 lanes isn't very wide, but that's not really the point.  I-95 works thru SC the vast majority of the time.   I-95 in VA is crowded in the middle of the night.  You could practically camp out on I-95 in South Carolina and watch the stars.  Yeah, that's a slight exaggeration, but if you haven't been on it, it really doesn't compare to much of the rest of 95.

Also, to show how much $4.5 Billion is to South Carolina...their entire transportation budget state-wide is only $1.7 Billion.  You can bet that the majority of the people in the state won't want to spend so much money on a highway that they aren't using.

I certainly wouldn't be against any widening, but in the larger context of things, it's pretty easy to avoid the few days SC's I-95 experiences congestion simply by traveling a day earlier or later, or driving at night.

plain

I agree that I-95 doesn't need widening in SC, it's just wasting funds for the most part. If it were to be widened, I would just do it from Georgia to where US 17 branches off south of Yemassee. Or, as an extreme, to I-26, as was already suggested earlier in the thread. Anything north of that seems like such a waste to me.
Newark born, Richmond bred

jwolfer

Quote from: plain on January 29, 2017, 02:38:05 PM
I agree that I-95 doesn't need widening in SC, it's just wasting funds for the most part. If it were to be widened, I would just do it from Georgia to where US 17 branches off south of Yemassee. Or, as an extreme, to I-26, as was already suggested earlier in the thread. Anything north of that seems like such a waste to me.
I agree with this to exit 33 would work.. Its a big split with traffic going to Charleston.. Ideally I would like to see it up to i26 with 95n to 26w and maybe 95s to 26e flyover instead of widening north of 26

LGMS428


jwolfer

Strategic widening of 95 between Petersburg VA and Florence SC eould suffice.

In my mind Lumberton area and between Fayetteville and Wilson need some immediate attention

LGMS428




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