Interstate 85

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Interstate 85 serves the Upstate cities of Greenville, Spartanburg and Anderson along a 106 mile long course between Lake Hartwell and Grover, North Carolina. A well traveled freight corridor linking Atlanta with Charlotte, Interstate 85 is the main route across the Upstate counties with traffic counts as high as 111,700 per day recorded in Greenville by the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) in 2012.

Interstate 85 South Carolina Guides

Portions of Interstate 85 were built as a freeway bypass for U.S. 29, dating as far back as the 1940s.¹ Showing its signs of age with a narrow design and just four lanes, projects over the years have expanded the existing roadway, or in one case, replaced it with a new alignment. A $122 million project between 1988 and August 27, 1995 constructed a new six lane freeway to bypass the older freeway through Spartanburg.¹ When it opened, I-85 shifted to the new alignment, leaving the older freeway as Business Loop Interstate 85. Major road work undertaken from the mid-1990s to 2002 rebuilt Interstate 85 between Greenville and Spartanburg, expanding the freeway to a minimum of six overall lanes between mileposts 19 and 80.5. Included in the work was the addition of ramps to Interstate 185 north from I-85 south and I-185 south to I-85 north.

The collector distributor roadway linking Interstate 85 with both Aviation Drive to Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport and South Carolina 14 opened to traffic by November 12, 2005.² This work preceded the opening of a new directional interchange on July 31, 2006 connecting I-85 with Brockman-McClimon Road. Both projects were a part of a $52.9 million "I-85 Access Project" improving access to both the airport and the BMW Spartanburg plant.³ Initial work commenced on January 3, 2004 with the closure of the Exit 57 ramp to Aviation Drive, which allowed for the building of the new c/d roadway and expansion of the airport road to four lanes.⁴

scenes

U.S. 25 (White Horse Road) meets Interstate 85 between Gantt and West Gantt at a six-ramp parclo interchange.

06/18/05

U.S. 25 (White Horse Road) south at I-85. This exchange (Exit 44B) was upgraded from a diamond interchange in the late 1990s during expansion of I-85. The work removed Hillcrest Street and replaced the intersection at U.S. 25 with Jacobs Road.

06/18/05

An I-85 trailblazer directed motorists from Frontage Road west onto Augusta Road south for the nearby entrance ramps. Reconstruction of Interstate 85 nearby between 1996 and 1999 expanded the roadway to ten overall lanes.

12/08/99

Replaced signs on Pelham Road east at I-85 north. Pelham Road continues from Exit 54 along an industrial arterial 1.75 miles to Batesville and S.C. 14.

08/29/04

Pelham Road west at the loop ramp for Interstate 85 south to Greenville.

05/25/21

S.C. 14 south at the single point urban interchange (SPUI) with Interstate 85 near Greenville Spartanburg International Airport (GSP).

08/29/04

S.C. 9 (Boiling Springs Road) north at the diamond interchange (Exit 75) with Interstate 85. This overhead has since been replaced a gas station was built on the northeast corner of the exchange.

06/01/07

Replaced trailblazer for Interstate 85 south at the ramp from Boiling Springs Road north. This stretch of I-85 opened in September 1995.

06/01/07

References:

"New I-85 to open Aug. 27 - $122 million highway bypasses congestion." Herald-Journal (Spartanburg, SC), August 19, 1995.
"Road work changes entrance to airport." Herald-Journal, November 10, 2005.
"Interchange near BMW opens." Herald-Journal, August 1, 2006.
"Airport area roadwork taking off." Herald-Journal, November 18, 2004.