Traffic alert: Fort Mill Parkway closed for overturned truck; I-77 backed up 3+ miles
The gas shortage at stations around York County and Charlotte did not appear to shrink the volume of traffic on Interstate 77 Wednesday afternoon as drivers continue to deal with work that has backed up southbound I-77 for more than three miles.
And to make matters worse, a portion of the busy Fort Mill Parkway in York County was closed Wednesday afternoon after a dump truck turned over near S.C. 160, officials said. The closed portion of the parkway was from Tom Hall Street to East Hensley Road, Fort Mill police said. Drivers are urged to avoid the area if possible.
It remains unclear when the road will re-open.
On I-77, traffic cameras as far north as Exit 85 showed stop and go traffic southbound between the North Carolina state line and construction on the bridge over the Catawba River that detours traffic into half the normal lanes.
The average speed between Exit 85 and the construction is 22 mph, according to a S.C. Department of Transportation congestion warning issued Wednesday around 3:45 p.m.
Camera images from the work zone show that traffic moved more quickly after the four southbound lanes merge into two lanes close to the work area.
A shortage of gasoline at stations around the Southeast, including South Carolina and North Carolina, had many drivers from Charlotte south to Fort Mill and Rock Hill searching for stations with fuel Wednesday.
The traffic on the interstate Wednesday afternoon appeared to be around the same volume as in the days before the fuel shortage. Southbound rush hour traffic each afternoon since Friday has backed up several miles, traffic cameras reviewed several times daily by The Herald have shown.
The South Carolina Department of Transportation began work Friday to replace the southbound bridge surface on the I-77 bridge between Rock Hill and Fort Mill. The four-lane, northbound side of the bridge has been converted into two-way traffic with two lanes in each direction.
DOT and the S.C. Highway Patrol reported incidents on I-77 south of Rock Hill and the construction zone of debris in the roadway that did not appear to affect construction-area traffic.
Wet conditions earlier in the day Wednesday did not appear to have an impact on the afternoon commute. Police from Rock Hill and other agencies had asked motorists to use extra caution Wednesday in the work zone during rainy conditions.
This story was originally published May 12, 2021 at 4:31 PM.
