South Carolina Belatedly Begins to Address Its Interstate 95 Disaster

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by WILL FOLKS

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Months ago, we reported on efforts to address one of South Carolina’s most glaring infrastructure failures: Interstate 95. Among the busiest modern thoroughfares in the world, this highway “turns into the equivalent of a bombed out Baghdad airstrip (c. 1991) as soon as motorists cross the border into South Carolina,” I noted recently.

“It’s a friggin’ disaster,” I added.

FITSNews has called on Palmetto State lawmakers to address this debacle for years, but they’ve chosen instead to subsidize all manner of crony capitalist infrastructure projects – including interchanges for “economic development” projects that never wind up actually developing.

Earlier this year, the much-maligned S.C. Department of Transportation (SCDOT) began to belatedly address the Interstate 95 disaster by launching the first phase of a project to “improve capacity, mobility, and operations” along a ten-mile corridor of the highway from the Savannah River to just north of U.S. Highway 278.

The project will also address “operational deficiencies for interchanges and bridges within the corridor.”

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State senator Tom Davis of Bluffton, S.C., who spearheaded the project, says its initial phase “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 the rest of the project.”

The total cost of the first phase – which started this summer – has been estimated at $825 million.

The project’s second phase – 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 Ridgeland, 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.

This week, SCDOT announced work was finally underway “to replace the I-95 Savannah River bridges” which for decades have been the primary bottleneck on this vital national artery.

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“Crews are currently installing trestles to allow heavy cranes to maneuver over the river banks,” the agency noted.

We’re glad SCDOT is finally moving forward with this project – and are pleased it has plans in place to modernize a 33-mile stretch of Interstate 95 by the end of the decade – but what about the other 166 miles of Interstate 95 in South Carolina?

And more importantly, what about the underlying problem of poor prioritization?

When are lawmakers finally going to fix the broken, crony-driven system that puts our state perpetually behind the eight-ball on so many core infrastructure needs?

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FITSNews has consistently criticized South Carolina’s chronic failure on this front, blasting “Republican” and Democrat lawmakers for wielding “dictatorial control over SCDOT spending priorities – placing pet projects and politically motivated ‘economic development’ deals ahead of core infrastructure obligations.”

“Projects backed by powerful political leaders consistently receive ample funding – even if the underlying ‘economic development’ deals associated with them wind up collapsing,” I noted in February 2024.

In fact, efforts to properly prioritize infrastructure dollars toward more pressing needs have been explicitly rejected by the status quo in Columbia, S.C.

Count on FITSNews to keep track of SCDOT’s progress as it begins addressing numerous long overdue critical needs. Also, count on us to continue advocating for accountability when it comes to those who waste our infrastructure resources – and to keep our audience apprised of efforts by reform-minded leaders (including DOGE SC‘s Rom Reddy) to ensure taxpayers and citizens receive a better return on their investment.

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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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