Update: I-77 bridge above Celanese Road in Rock Hill now is back open to traffic
The I-77 overpass bridge over Celanese Road has been cleared as safe to travel, and traffic in the area is back open after a Thursday morning incident with fallen concrete.
A call came in around 8:30 a.m. after a piece of concrete fell from the overpass above Celanese. South Carolina Highway Patrol referred the incident to the Rock Hill Police Department, which temporarily shut down traffic.
“A piece of concrete fell about the size of a piece of paper,” said Lt. Michael Chavis with the Rock Hill Police Department.
Police shut down traffic to give the South Carolina Department of Transportation time to inspect the area. SCDOT warned drivers to avoid one of the busiest spots in York County until further notice.
The York County Office of Emergency Management tweeted a notice during the morning from SCDOT, that a portion of Celanese Road was closed near I-77.
A little before noon, Rock Hill police tweeted that traffic had resumed in the area. Chavis said the issue was deemed minor by SCDOT inspection and wasn’t a threat to traffic.
“It’s always about being preventive,” Chavis said. “You want to make sure everything is safe.”
The area of concrete can be patched and won’t require a full replacement, Chavis said.
The Celanese and Cherry roads interchange at I-77 is long-considered one of the busiest traffic spots in the Rock Hill region. SCDOT traffic counts show between 14,000 and more than 47,000 vehicle trips per day from the various road that feed into that intersection. Celanese at the interchange shows 47,400 daily trips. The interstate carries for more traffic still.
SCDOT is in planning stages now for interchange improvements at the Rock Hill site, which based on nearby work at I-77 and S.C. 160 or I-77 and Carowinds Boulevard could cost somewhere in the $100 million range. Area road experts earlier this year said traffic could double in the foreseeable future at the Rock Hill site.
The emergency management tweet, along with one sent by the York County Sheriff’s Office, listed the current closure as an “unexpected road closure.”
This story was originally published June 22, 2023 at 11:35 AM.
