A Fort Mill I-77 interchange is set to open soon, plus more York County road updates
Long-awaited interchange improvements at I-77 and Gold Hill Road are near completion, amid a host of ongoing road construction projects throughout York County.
The Gold Hill bridge over I-77 will close the weekend of Sept. 10. Ramps to get on and off the interstate will remain open. There had been plans to close the bridge by late August. The weekend closure in September puts the project on a fall completion schedule.
“Still on pace to be completed I think in November of this year, possibly October,” said Pennies for Progress program manager Patrick Hamilton.
The Gold Hill interchange was announced as the first diverging diamond design in the state after it was approved by York County voters on the 2011 Pennies referendum.
Drivers will get their first look at that diverging diamond once the coming closure ends.
“That Monday morning, Sept. 13, when it opens back up, the diverging diamond configuration will be in effect,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton updated York County Council this week on the work. Pennies is a voter referendum approved cent sales tax for road work. Pennies dates back to 1997. The fourth and most recent round of projects was approved in 2017.
Here’s where several other Pennies projects sit:
▪ The I-77 exit 85 interchange between Kingsley and Baxter in Fort Mill will see right-of-way acquisition start in September. The project involves new ramps to access the interstate.
“It also includes widening (S.C.) 160 to six lanes from Pleasant Road all the way to U.S. 21, about a mile stretch,” Hamilton said.
The interchange is an innovative design, he said, that will limit time-consuming left turns, especially at peak rush hours in the morning and afternoon.
“Essentially whether you’re coming from Tega Cay or Fort Mill, or heading north or south, you make a right to get on the interstate,” Hamilton said.
▪ The South Carolina Department of Transportation picked a consultant for the I-77 exit 82 interchange improvement at Cherry and Celanese roads in Rock Hill. The consultant will help with an alternatives analysis and early design for the interchange work.
▪ The new five-lane bridge over Lake Wylie remains under construction on the S.C. 274 and Pole Branch Road project. So does a smaller bridge on the Pole Branch section. Both bridges should be complete in December. Much of the sidewalk, curb and gutter work is complete along the end nearest the North Carolina line.
“This spring and summer they’ve made a good bit of progress out there,” Hamilton said. “We’ve been pleased with it. Still a little bit more work to do, but we do hope to be doing the final asphalt throughout the job in spring of 2022.”
▪ Land is cleared for the new intersection at Fort Mill Parkway and Spratt Street. The new alignment will shift the parkway near the Fort Mill wastewater treatment plant and new homes under construction along the parkway.
“It just started this summer, so probably looking at next fall for it to be open to traffic,” Hamilton said.
▪ Construction should start on the Hubert Graham Way extension in Tega Cay in September. Devinney Road in York, which Hamilton says is the perhaps the most traveled gravel road in the county, will have resurfacing start Aug. 23. The road will close during a 90-day construction.
Final plans and utility agreements for S.C. 557, S.C. 160 East, U.S. 321 and Johnson Road and Riverview Road, all should go for construction bids by end of year
▪ Property is cleared for an extension of Galleria Boulevard in Rock Hill. The extension will go from an existing end to Cel-River Road at Waterford Park. The project started in the past two months and should be open to traffic next summer.
▪ Work at U.S. 321 and Kings Mountain Street in York began in April. It wrapped up July 28, well ahead of the Sept. 11 target completion date. Work cost $950,000, which was well below the $1.65 million contract. Water and sewer lines were lower in the ground than anticipated and didn’t have to be moved, saving time and money.
“That was several hundred thousands of dollars worth of work that didn’t have to be done,” Hamilton said.
▪ The Pennies 4 resurfacing program, the first time resurfacing was included on a referendum, includes $50 million for 80 miles of new surface. Work is wrapping up, and it looks like it will come in about $6 million under budget.
“All the roads will be complete this fall,” Hamilton said.
This story was originally published August 19, 2021 at 9:52 AM.
