‘Very inconvenient’ roadwork planned for I-77 bridge between Rock Hill and Fort Mill
Traffic on Interstate 77 will have to squeeze down into two lanes in each direction this spring for resurfacing of the interstate bridge between Rock Hill and Fort Mill.
Jason Johnston with the South Carolina Department of Transportation told York and Lancaster county public officials Friday afternoon that resurfacing will begin in May. Johnston said his agency met with state highway patrol and other agencies and will put out an official public notice once all plans are finalized.
“People are going to want facts, not brainstorm,” he said.
Plans now involve a 17-day project beginning May 6 and costing $13 million.
The four southbound lanes of the interstate that go over the Catawba River will be shut down and resurfaced. While the work is going on, southbound traffic will be detoured onto two of the northbound lanes, resulting in two lanes each going north and two going south, separated by barriers, for a total of four open lanes.
The four southbound lanes on the bridge will be closed until the work is finished.
“It’s going to be very inconvenient, to say the least, for all parties,” Johnston said.
The southbound ramp from Sutton Road in Fort Mill would close, as would three northbound ramps from Cherry and Celanese roads in Rock Hill.
“Those two movements will be detoured across the US 21 bridge,” Johnston said.
There will be preliminary work on weekends ahead of the project, and a couple weekends (though not Memorial Day weekend) afterward that could impact traffic. Johnston updated the Rock Hill-Fort Mill Area Transportation Study policy committee on Friday, made of mayors, elected officials and other public planners from York and Lancaster counties.
The I-77 bridge dates back to 1973. It was reconstructed in 2000. Johnston told the policy committee in late 2018 that, though the bridge was expanded in 2006, some original surface remains. Even then it was a concern for SCDOT as deck surface failures have led to emergency repairs and traffic backups.
“This is not a project that we dreamt up overnight,” Johnston said Friday.
SCDOT put a resurfacing project for the entire bridge out for bid, but canceled it when only one bid came and it was much higher than the transportation department estimate. SCDOT then put out a bid only for the southbound lanes of the bridge.
Plans now are for 100 employees per day and 100 per night to work around-the-clock in repair of the bridge deck surface. The work carries a more than $200,000 per day penalty if it isn’t finished on time.
“By design it’s a 24-hour-a-day project,” Johnston said.
Johnston said as difficult as an interstate bridge restriction is for traffic, the cost of leaving the bridge alone could be even more costly.
“We didn’t have an option of not doing anything,” he told the policy committee. “The deck is still in dire need of replacement.”
This story was originally published February 26, 2021 at 2:44 PM.
