Tuesday afternoon traffic: Fort Mill, Rock Hill traffic steady near I-77 bridge work
Traffic already is backing up on the second afternoon rush hour during I-77 bridge construction, though no major wrecks or unexpected delays have come.
Traffic cameras at 4:30 p.m. show traffic slowed and backing up about four miles north of the bridge.
Afternoon rush hour is projected to be the most difficult few hours each weekday during closure of half the bridge over the Catawba River. Fort Mill, Rock Hill and farther south residents who commute to Charlotte for work make the afternoon southbound trip busy most days, and the bridge issue only adds to it.
The South Carolina Department of Transportation began work Friday night to replace the southbound bridge deck on the I-77 bridge between Rock Hill and Fort Mill. Work will run until May 24. In the interim, northbound and southbound traffic will share what usually are the four northbound bridge lanes.
SCDOT urged the public to use extra caution and abide by the new 45 mph speed limit as crews simultaneously demo parts of the old bridge and pour concrete for the new surface.
A little before 3 p.m. Tuesday southbound traffic began to slow from the bridge to the Sutton Road and S.C. 160 interchanges on I-77. It remained slow, but moving half an hour later.
The heavier delays were on U.S. 21. That’s the main detour and with Rock Hill and Fort Mill ramps nearest the bridge closed down heading toward it, the U.S. 21 corridor has been the lone option for many in the always busy Cherry, Celanese and Sutton roads areas.
During the Monday afternoon rush, a trip along Fort Mill Parkway from near Catawba Ridge High School to the Rock Hill side of the U.S. 21 bridge took about 90 minutes. Without traffic it might typically take 10.
South Carolina Highway Patrol reported several smaller incidents throughout the day Tuesday. Few blocked traffic long.
Near Lake Wylie
There were two area incidents just after 2:30 p.m. A traffic hazard was reported on S.C. 49 in Lake Wylie, one of the few corridors with a bridge across the Catawba River or Lake Wylie. S.C. 49 is one of just a handful of alternate routes for I-77. A collision was reported on I-77 at the Sutton Road exit in Fort Mill.
Chester County had a reported collision on I-77 too, at exit 53. That incident was about 30 miles south of the bridge project. Those three incidents occurred within two minutes of each other.
There also was a non-injury hit-and-run earlier in the day at S.C. 160 and North Sutton Road, but it was cleared by rush hour.
A little before noon the York County Sheriff’s Office tweeted its thanks to drivers and construction crews for what has been a “relatively smooth” traffic situation on the bridge corridor.
