‘We are still interested’: Could funding be on the way to upgrade I-77 at Carowinds?
Work to build a new I-77 interchange in Rock Hill continues, even as it’s unclear what purpose it might serve. But the new exit for what was supposed to be the Carolina Panthers new headquarters site isn’t the only one on the list.
For others, it’s clear why upgrades are needed -- to serve an ever-growing driving public.
On June 6, Pennies for Progress director Patrick Hamilton updated York County Council on some of the biggest ongoing projects in the area. Including new funds that could come for the exit at I-77 and Carowinds Boulevard in Fort Mill.
That exit was part of a plan submitted three years ago to the state transportation infrastructure bank. That entity picks and funds large-scale public infrastructure projects in South Carolina through loans and other financing options.
“It was not selected,” Hamilton said. “However recently the (infrastructure bank) board has reached back out to staff to gauge our interest in the project. We responded that, yes, we are still interested in the project.”
It appears the infrastructure bank has additional funds and is looking at projects that weren’t approved in the most recent round of requests, Hamilton said. It’s likely the county may have to submit more information on the Carowinds exit.
“We are eagerly awaiting information from the (infrastructure bank) on the next steps with that project,” Hamilton said.
State infrastructure bank plan
In fall 2019, York County submitted an application to the state transportation infrastructure bank for funding on key I-77 interchanges. The nearly $160 million would include $31 million from the county and the rest from the infrastructure bank. Improvements would be made at the Carowinds and Baxter/Kingsley exits in Fort Mill, and the Cherry and Celanese roads exit in Rock Hill.
The Carowinds work would cost at least $20 million more than either of the other projects. When a decision from the state bank came in summer 2020, the Carowinds exit wasn’t funded. Almost $75 million was allocated for the other Fort Mill and Rock Hill sites. Area road officials were told the Carowinds project could be considered again later.
Specific plans for interchange improvements at I-77 and Carowinds Boulevard weren’t included in the past application. Hamilton told Council on June 6 the pitch then was more conceptual.
“It was a very non-traditional improvement just because a traditional interchange, that doesn’t work anymore with the volume of traffic at the interchange,” Hamilton said.
Once projects receive funding, then the process to nail down exactly what improvements will be made can commence. Which is what just happened at S.C. 160 in Fort Mill, and is up next for Cherry and Celanese roads in Rock Hill.
“The projects awarded, there will be full traffic studies done to analyze multiple alternatives,” Hamilton said.
S.C. 160
The South Carolina Department of Transportation is in right-of-way acquisition now for the massive new S.C. 160 interchange at exit 85, between Baxter and Kingsley in Fort Mill. That work includes widening of S.C. 160 to six lanes from Pleasant Road to U.S. 21. Construction bids should come this spring. Construction would begin summer 2023. The Rock Hill-Fort Mill Area Transportation Study will pay for the S.C. 160 widening, while the infrastructure bank and smaller county match will fund the interchange.
At one point envisioned as a diverging diamond similar to what recently opened at the Gold Hill Road interchange, the S.C. 160 exit now will be a more expansive layout that has seen significant projected cost increases in recent years. This spring an SCDOT official told area road leaders the construction cost could be almost $93 million, up from almost $67 million in mid-2020.
Celanese and Cherry roads
SCDOT hired a consultant to perform traffic studies on exit 82, where major Rock Hill thoroughfares come together at the first interchange south of the Catawba River.
“They’ve completed all the survey work,” Hamilton said. “They are going through the traffic analysis at the moment.”
Several models will be run to determine what scope of work will be needed at the interchange. Rock Hill officials have urged road leaders to take a similar approach they did with the S.C. 160 exit in Fort Mill, where plans and price tags grew when it became clear coming decades would only bring more and more traffic.
“They’ll measure out 20 years in the future to make sure whatever improvement is done will be able to last,” Hamilton said.
More I-77 drivers
The unprecedented run of interstate upgrades is in direct relation to the amount of traffic they serve. Already road officials in the area have had discussions about improvements at exit 77 in Rock Hill. There was work last year to repave half of the I-77 bridge over the Catawba River.
The Charlotte region in general and northeast York County in particular continue to grow at high rates. Recent U.S. Census Bureau updates show Fort Mill added more residents in the year ending in mid-2021 than all but two other municipalities in the state.
Across the region, the highest traffic counts on area roads typically come in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic limited travel. In 2019, the stretch of I-77 at Carowinds Boulevard saw more than 176,000 daily vehicle trips. The figure was almost 133,000 daily trips by Gold Hill Road, gradually tapering down as the interstate moves away from Charlotte. Yet even for the Rock Hill stretch of interstate between Cherry and Dave Lyle Boulevard there were almost 92,000 daily trips.
