Parts Of South Carolina’s Interstate 95 Could Become Slightly Less Embarrassing

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One of the most heavily traveled modern thoroughfares in the United States turns into the equivalent of a bombed out Baghdad airstrip (c. 1991) as soon as motorists cross the border into South Carolina.

Interstate 95 – which runs 1,906 miles from Maine to Miami – is the East Coast’s principal north-south highway system. And in South Carolina, it’s a friggin’ disaster.

“Nothing says ‘welcome to the third world’ quite like entering Jasper County, South Carolina on Interstate 95,” this reporter noted six years ago. “Traveling from Georgia, the highway narrows from six lanes to four lanes – with rusty guardrails flanking the roadside. Trash is everywhere, greeting visiting motorists as they pass through a 1990s-era stucco display that might as well be the entrance to a drug kingpin’s barn – or a trailer park.”

Travelers have similarly derided the clusterfuck, with one bluntly worded letter to FITSNews noting South Carolina’s “inability to widen Interstate 95 to three lanes over the decades demonstrates a multi-generational, fundamentally broken legislature.”

Indeed… this failure is even more inexcusable given the billions of dollars funneled into our infrastructure via a 2017 gas tax hike.

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The more things around South Carolina have changed, the more its critical infrastructure has… well, not. Long-overdue efforts are currently underway to fix some of the most glaring deficiencies, but Interstate 95 has continued to cause headaches for drivers all over the nation (while at the same time enriching the Palmetto State’s über-liberal trial lawyer lobby, which salivates over each new vehicular collision).

Local law enforcement also pad their pockets along the route with innumerable speed traps… raking in money almost as fast as chain garages specializing in front-end realignments.

While South Carolina remains decades away from solving its Interstate 95 problem, steps are underway to begin the arduous task. This summer, the much-maligned S.C. Department of Transportation (SCDOT) will begin work on the first phase of a project to widen and improve approximately 33 miles of the 199-mile highway – a stretch which runs from the Georgia border to Point South (approximately five miles southwest of Yemassee, S.C.).

Leading the charge for the project is S.C. senator Tom Davis of Beaufort.

“For the past several years I have been working with (SCDOT) officials on the funding, right-of-way acquisitions, engineering, and environmental mitigation for the highway agency’s I-95 Widening and Improvements Project,” Davis wrote in a recent message to his constituents.

According to the veteran lawmaker, the first phase of the project “will widen and repave I-95 from the Savannah River to US 278, including a new bridge over the river.” Half of the new bridge will be paid for by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT). Also, the town of Hardeeville is contributing to a new interchange which is separate from

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RELATED | CAROLINA CROSSROADS UPDATE

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“The purpose of the project is to accommodate for growth and to improve the interchanges and bridges to fit modern standards,” a release from SCDOT noted. “The goal of the project is to reduce traffic delays and congestion and keep people and goods moving smoothly and safely through the I-95 corridor.”

The second phase of the project – set to commence in December 2026 – will replace multiple mainline bridges and four overpass bridges on a twelve-mile stretch of road which runs roughly from Hardeeville to Ridgeville, S.C. The third and final phase of the project – slated to begin in the summer of 2028 – will replace all mainline bridges and four additional overpass bridges on a fourteen-mile stretch of highway which runs rough from Ridgeville to Point South.

The cost of the first phase of the project has been estimated at $825 million.

“I-95 at the Georgia border has long been a choke point for traffic heading between New York and Miami,” SCDOT secretary Justin Powell noted. “The award of SCDOT’s largest contract ever begins a new day to fix the drive on I-95 for residents and visitors alike. Our team will continue to work to advance this project and build a safe and efficient roadway through our great state.”

FITSNews has consistently criticized South Carolina’s chronic failure to prioritize its infrastructure needs.

“For years, powerful legislative leaders have wielded dictatorial control over SCDOT spending priorities – placing pet projects and politically motivated ‘economic development’ deals ahead of core infrastructure obligations,” I noted last February. “The result of this broken system? Projects backed by powerful political leaders consistently receive ample funding – even if the underlying ‘economic development’ deals associated with them wind up collapsing.”

Count on FITSNews to continue holding our state’s leaders accountable for all of the decisions they make with your money…

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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