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[cowboy_wilhelm]

How's the I-85 widening going from Spartanburg to Blacksburg?  I going to be in South Carolina starting Friday for a week and since I don't see a lot of updates on the I-85 widening site, was curious if anyone here had any insight.

A trucker had a YouTube video traveling south through the construction zone this week and it looked like there was a 35 MPH speed limit!?  There seemed to be a split pattern going in that direction.

Wasn't this the construction zone that had a nasty fatality accident a couple of months ago?  Probably caused the speed crackdown.

Yes, "the chute" or "death trap" as the Cherokee County coroner called it. SCDOT was defending it, but then three were killed in the last major accident. They have apparently changed their tone and are planning to remove it. Stories and video on WSPA. Sounds like tractor-trailers were in a lane they weren't supposed to be in (I'm guessing "the chute").

[MASTERNC]

I've just never seen a speed limit on an Interstate below 40 MPH (and even that is an outlier).

[Rothman]

I've just never seen a speed limit on an Interstate below 40 MPH (and even that is an outlier).

I am sure there is a thread on that somewhere.  Central Artery was posted at 35, for example.

[sprjus4]

^^^^

GAFFNEY, S.C. — The South Carolina Department of Transportation is working to lower speed limits along the Interstate 85 construction zone in Spartanburg and Cherokee counties.

This is as crews work to widen the roadway to change plans in order to eliminate the "chute" as quickly as possible.

SCDOT said the details of the new plan are still under review and would be refined over the next few days.

The contractor will be able to remove the chute in two stages, with each phase lasting less than 90 days each, SCDOT said.

The first stage involves the contract finishing the widening work needed in the southbound lanes for the 5 miles between mile markers 81 and 86. That's at the Spartanburg/Cherokee county line. Once that's done, SCDOT said the chute will be removed in that 5-mile stretch.

The same approach will be taken for the second phase, which involves the portion of the interstate between mile markers 86 and 91 in Cherokee County.

SCDOT said that a team of its engineers made recommendations for change on Friday morning.

“All options are on the table and we will continue to look for more ways to make the project corridor safer,” Secretary of Transportation Christy Hall said Saturday. “Today the State Transport Police began patrolling the project corridor in order to assist the State Highway Patrol and others in slowing traffic down through the work zone. This is especially important as we lower the speed limit in the southbound direction to 45 mph and prepare to make additional changes to signage to reinforce that all truck traffic must be in the outside lane.”

SCDOT said it has completed the installation of new speed limit signs.

The speed limit was lowered from 55 mph to 45 mph for the outside southbound lanes, SCDOT said.

Officials said the speed limit for the "chute” was lowered to 35 mph.

This comes after three people died in a crash on Thursday afternoon on that stretch of I-85.

The Cherokee County Coroner is responding to the removal of the "chute."

"The SCDOT reaction is nothing more than lip service again. 90 days on each phase to remove the chutes is 180 days. That puts us at the end of the year which is what they had stated at the original meeting with county officials several months ago. Nothing has changed and this is not acceptable. Another day with those chutes in place is another place is another day a motorist can be killed in this maze of concrete that has been proven not to work."

SCDOT said more than 55,000 vehicles pass through the construction site on a daily basis.

https://www.wyff4.com/article/scdot-changing-i-85-construction-plans-to-eliminate-chute/37056760

IMO, the construction zone is poorly designed. I understand it’s a temporary situation, but there has to be a way to at least maintain standard lane widths, avoid abrupt lane shifts, etc. I’ve seen my fair share of good and bad work zones, and this one is on the down side.

Also… what is the point of having the lane splits anyways? They’ve always seemed completely pointless in my mind. What do you need to split the lane for that can’t just have a single roadway with two striped lanes?

[sprjus4]

I've just never seen a speed limit on an Interstate below 40 MPH (and even that is an outlier).

I-264 is posted at 35 mph through the Downtown Tunnel and across the Berkley Bridge in Norfolk, VA.

[wriddle082]

(I also posted this to the I-26 thread, because this story applies to both I-26 and South Carolina.)

SC Governor Henry McMaster will be using federal funds to accelerate widening I-26 between Columbia and Charleston.

https://www.wistv.com//app/2021/09/02/mcmaster-expected-make-major-infrastructure-announcement-thursday/

The first project will start next year from SC 27 near Ridgeville to Jedburg Rd near Summerville.  I wish they would start on the Columbia end first, since there are hills just east of where the current 6-lane section ends that really tend to slow down the truck traffic.  But they are saying either way that the whole thing will be done in 10 years.

[froggie]

Also… what is the point of having the lane splits anyways? They’ve always seemed completely pointless in my mind. What do you need to split the lane for that can’t just have a single roadway with two striped lanes?

I'm not sure how SCDOT is doing things, but in other regions, lane splits are occasionally necessary in order to maintain the desired number of lanes when one carriageway isn't wide enough to hold them all.  Another current example of this is I-94 in northwestern Hennepin County, MN, where they're trying to keep 3 lanes open in each direction (the same as existed pre-construction).

[fillup420]

Also… what is the point of having the lane splits anyways? They’ve always seemed completely pointless in my mind. What do you need to split the lane for that can’t just have a single roadway with two striped lanes?

I'm not sure how SCDOT is doing things, but in other regions, lane splits are occasionally necessary in order to maintain the desired number of lanes when one carriageway isn't wide enough to hold them all.  Another current example of this is I-94 in northwestern Hennepin County, MN, where they're trying to keep 3 lanes open in each direction (the same as existed pre-construction).

well, between the I-85 construction mess and the woefully under-maintained I-26, i would say SC DOT doesnt do much of anything. I lived in SC for about a year, and was constantly disappointed in the quality of roadways all over the state.

[snowc]

I've just never seen a speed limit on an Interstate below 40 MPH (and even that is an outlier).

i81 in downtown syracuse is 45

[Henry]

I've just never seen a speed limit on an Interstate below 40 MPH (and even that is an outlier).

i81 in downtown syracuse is 45

And it'll only go lower once that community grid is fully implemented.

Sure, SC may have some terrible roads, but there are other location with far worse ones, including NYC (and they also have 40 MPH posted on one of their so-called expressways!).

Getting rid of that I-85 chute would certainly go a very long way in improving the Charlotte-Atlanta corridor. They really need to look at NC and how it improved its own sections of the Interstate to modern standards, because it's infinitely better now than it was 25 years ago.

[sprjus4]

^ The I-85 terrible zone in South Carolina is temporary though. Remember, it is actively being expanded to a modern 6 lane facility.

[ran4sh]

Although it has been "active" for like 4 years now.

[sprjus4]

Although it has been "active" for like 4 years now.

Two phases, started some years apart. It’ll all likely be done in the next few years, with the southern section sooner.

[cowboy_wilhelm]

Chute removal began last night. The first five miles should be removed by September 15.

[cowboy_wilhelm]

The first section started in 2017 (design) with construction in 2018. Completion has been delayed from July 2021 to late 2023. The northern section started in 2019 and will continue until at least 2023. Once source I found said 2025.