Light at the end of tunnel for Fort Mill Southern Bypass

Driving around town is almost an option for Fort Mill, pending a little sunshine.

The Fort Mill Southern Bypass, years and millions of dollars in the making, is within weeks of opening from start to finish.

“Right now — and of course we’ve had a little rain here lately — we’re hoping to have it open by the end of the month,” said Pennies for Progress program manager Patrick Hamilton. “If we can get a couple of dry weeks it should be ready.”

The final stretch of bypass won’t open with fanfare. No ribbon cutting or public ordeal is set. But it will be a major milestone for local transportation. Hamilton figures people are more interested in driving the road than celebrating it.

“Most people are just ready for it to be done so they can access it,” he said.

In 1997, York County voters approved $7.1 million for the two-lane Fort Mill Northern Bypass from S.C. 160 to Deerfield Road. In 2003, voters approved $7.5 million each for the first phase of Fort Mill Southern Bypass from Fort Mill Parkway to Holbrook Road, and the second phase from Holbrook to S.C. 160.

In 2011, voters approved a $4.7 million to connect the bypass with Spratt and Sutton roads.

Final or estimated costs now put those projects at more than $67 million, more than twice the initial estimates approved by voters. Given reasons vary, from bad estimates to changeover from consultants to the county handling projects to a learning curve for Pennies, the first cent sales tax for road construction program of its kind in South Carolina.

County leaders and planners say the missed cost estimates are a problem, but estimates are getting better with each Pennies campaign and York County road infrastructure would look drasitcally different if nor for millions of dollars in campaign-funded work.

While the northern stretch of bypass if Fort Mill has been open for some time, the first phase of southern bypass opened in 2014. In late May, connecting road alignments for the final phase opened in the Hensley, Legion and Williams roads area.

Though the 2011-approved connection to Spratt and Sutton won’t be done until 2018, the main bypass work to wrap up this month will connect U.S. 21 near Rock Hill all the way to Tega Cay, without cars having to travel through downtown Fort Mill.

Already, there is discussion for more work along the bypass. David Hooper, administrator with the Rock Hill-Fort Mill Area Transportation Study, told the commission working on the next Pennies campaign in 2017 the Fort Mill bypass is one of several projects they should consider.

That commission will meet with public officials and residents July 20 in Fort Mill to take recommendations.

If widening comes, with the next Pennies campaign or later, a major step already is behind project leaders.

“When we bought right-of-way for the bypass, we bought enough for the full five lanes,” Hamilton said. “We knew it was going to need to be expanded at some point.”

This story was originally published June 1, 2016 at 8:48 AM with the headline "Light at the end of tunnel for Fort Mill Southern Bypass."