The I-77 bridge closure isn’t the only traffic headache looming for Rock Hill drivers
The coming I-77 bridge closure heading into Rock Hill promises a massive disruption to traffic, but it isn’t the only bridge concern for the city. Another downtown bridge closure will overlap the interstate work.
The Charlotte Avenue bridge over Dave Lyle Boulevard and train tracks downtown will close April 20. It will be closed for 90 days as the city makes repairs.
“That bridge is an old bridge,” Mayor John Gettys said when Rock Hill City Council met Monday. “It is safe, but it will not be safe for much longer if we don’t make some repairs.”
An hourglass-shaped detour will run along North Wilson Street to Oakland Avenue, to East White Street. Gettys emphasized a need to address the bridge now, even as I-77 work will cause headaches not far from downtown.
“The city will work as quickly and efficiently as possible,” Gettys said of Charlotte Avenue work. “That is purely a safety issue. This is not a landscaping or beautification project. This is a safety project.”
The city determined the bridge can be improved, rather than replaced.
“We could’ve looked at a bridge replacement, but it’s just as safe and better if we just do a bridge closure for repairs,” Gettys said.
I-77 work
The city will handle the Charlotte Avenue project. The South Carolina Department of Transportation is in charge of the I-77 work. There, southbound lanes on the bridge over the Catawba River will close for resurfacing. Northbound and southbound traffic will use what typically are the northbound lanes. On ramps at exits 82 and 83, heading toward the bridge, will close.
Work will run 24 hours a day from 9 p.m. May 6 to 5 a.m. May 24. Temporary night and weekend closures in preparation of the work are expected.
“We feel your pain,” Gettys said. “It is going to be hard on all of us. It is going to be hard on the Town of Fort Mill, the City of Tega Cay and the City of Rock Hill especially.”
SCDOT and other public agencies have asked area drivers to plan for alternate or longer routes while the work is being done. Rush hours in particular will cause heavy traffic both on the interstate and along alternate routes.
The I-77 bridge is one of the few spots for vehicles to cross the Catawba River in York County. Lake Wylie has Buster Boyd Bridge. There is the U.S. 21 bridge between Cherry Road in Rock Hill and Sutton Road in Fort Mill.
Southbound I-77 traffic dissipates the further south it goes from the North Carolina line, as vehicles get off throughout Tega Cay, Fort Mill and Rock Hill. The stretch of interstate that includes the Catawba River bridge serves 120,900 vehicle trips per day, according to the most recent SCDOT counts. At the state line, the interstate has 176,500 vehicle trips per day.
The U.S. 21 bridge between Sutton and Cherry, the most direct interstate bridge detour, typically serves 29,900 vehicle trips per day.
The Charlotte Avenue bridge set to close serves another 7,400 vehicle trips per day.
“This is going to be very difficult,” Gettys said. “We’re just going to have to, in effect, suffer through.”
This story was originally published April 14, 2021 at 11:33 AM.
