Interstate lane closures will be part of 85/385 redo

Heads up if you drive to work on Interstates 85 or 385, going past where they intersect, at night or on weekends.

For the next three years, you may need to schedule a little more time for your commute.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) has begun work in earnest on its second-biggest construction project to date – a $231 million redo of the I-85/I-385 interchange in Greenville.

The massive job is expected to take more than three years, and SCDOT officials say they will have to close interstate lanes at various times.

Generally, they said, the interstate lane closures will occur only at night during weekdays, but they could occur during the day on weekends.

At least one lane will always be open on the interstates, they said.

“We will do everything we can to deliver this project with minimal disruptions and the highest quality,” Christy Hall, SCDOT’s new secretary, said during a groundbreaking ceremony Friday in the parking lot of the Magnolia Park shopping center.

The construction work involves widening both interstates and building 11 new bridges, including two “flyovers,” long, sweeping bridges high in the air.

Construction crews will pour 95,000 cubic yards of concrete, re-enforced by 9.5 million pounds of steel, according to Hall, a Clemson University engineering graduate who spent a decade working in the Greenville area.

Jack Valetti, SCDOT engineer in charge of the construction, said the agency will keep an eye on how the work is affecting traffic.

“If things are just locking down on us, we’ll have to go back and try to figure out ways to work around that,” he said.

In addition to rebuilding the interchange, SCDOT plans to widen I-85 to four lanes in both directions along the stretch between I-385 and Pelham Road.

That’s designed to address recurring traffic backups on I-85 around the Pelham Road exit.

SCDOT will also add two lanes to I-385, for a total of six, between Butler and Roper Mountain roads.

In addition, the agency plans to add turning lanes and make other improvements to three intersections along Woodruff Road between I-85 and I-385.

That will help ease, though not eliminate, traffic congestion on Woodruff Road, officials said.

I-385-85 Construction Animation

The job calls for SCDOT and its contractor, Flatiron-Zachry, to build the new interchange around the existing one while keeping the existing one open.

“There will be some temporary delays and detours on a few of the ramps but the interstates will remain open,” Valetti said.

He said 200,000 vehicles on average go through the I-85/I-385 interchange every day, more than any other intersection in South Carolina, except the Interstate 26/Interstate 20 interchange in Columbia.

SCDOT expects the I-85/I-385 traffic volume to hit 350,000 a day by 2035, Valetti said.

“So if we don’t get it now, it’s only going to get worse,” he said.

The $231 million price tag is higher than any other SCDOT construction project, except the decorative Ravel Bridge in Charleston, which cost more than $600 million.

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