Brockman Used Cars Hwy 101 Greer South Carolina

This article is about the section of Interstate 85 in South Carolina. For the entire route, see Interstate 85.

Interstate 85
I-85 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by SCDOT
Length	106.28 mi[1] [2] (171.04 km)
Existed	1959–present
Major junctions
South end	I-85 at Georgia state line
	I-185 near Greenville I-385 in Greenville I-85 BL near Spartanburg I-26 in Spartanburg I-585 / US 176 in Spartanburg
North end	I-85 at North Carolina state line
Location
Counties	Oconee, Anderson, Greenville, Spartanburg, Cherokee
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future South Carolina State Highway System Interstate US State Scenic ← SC 83 → SC 86

In the U.S. state of South Carolina, Interstate 85 (I-85) runs northeast-southwest through Upstate South Carolina. Connecting regionally with Atlanta, Georgia and Charlotte, North Carolina, it became the first Interstate highway in South Carolina to have its originally planned mileage completed.

Route description [edit]

Georgia state line to Greenville [edit]

Interstate 85 enters South Carolina along the Vandiver Bridge, from Georgia, crossing over Tugaloo River/Lake Hartwell.^[3] It is immediately followed by exit 1, where the Welcome Center and the start of the Cherokee Foothills National Scenic Highway (SC 11) are located. For the next 19 miles (31 km), Interstate 85 continues along the north shores of Lake Hartwell, crossing over some parts of it. At the US 76/SC 28 interchange (exit 19), the highway widens to six lanes. Continuing northeast, US 29 joins Interstate 85 (exit 34), near Piedmont, as they run concurrently until after they cross the Saluda River.

Greenville to Spartanburg [edit]

Interstate 85 bypasses Greenville to the south, but provides a link into the city via spur routes Interstates 185 and 385. US 29 splits from Interstate 85 and joins Interstate 185 toward downtown Greenville.

Two key Upstate businesses can be seen from this portion of the interstate. One is Michelin Tires's North American headquarters and the other is the BMW plant, located in Greer. Interstate 85 also passes Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (exit 57), which serves the Greenville-Spartanburg metropolitan area.

Spartanburg to North Carolina state line [edit]

Near Spartanburg, Interstate 85 takes a northern bypass of the city with a higher speed limit of 70 miles per hour (110 km/h), while an older alignment designated as Interstate 85 Business Freeway Loop continues along a more direct path at a lower speed limit of 55 miles per hour (89 km/h).^[4] Along the bypass routing, Interstate 85 connects with Interstate 26 (exit 70) and indirectly connects with Interstate 585, via US 176 (exit 72).

At mile marker 79, Interstate 85 narrows back down to four-lanes. The remaining 27 miles (43 km) is the oldest section, which features a few low height bridges such as a 15-foot (4.6 m) high railroad bridge originally used by the Clinchfield Railroad (now the CSX Blue Ridge Subdivision) east of Exit 80, and intriguing exit/entrance ramps. At mile marker 91 in Gaffney, travelers will not be able to miss the Peachoid, a large water tower with its top shaped like a peach, representing one of the state's most important crops. At mile marker 95, an old plantation cemetery is located on a knoll in the median of Interstate 85; more visible to see on southbound lanes.^[5] A 23-foot-6-inch (7.16 m) high decrepit railroad bridge can be found in the vicinity of Blacksburg between Exits 100 and 102. At mile marker 103 is the southbound welcome center. 3.4 miles (5.5 km) later, Interstate 85 enters North Carolina.^[6]

Services [edit]

The Oconee County Welcome Center is shared with the frontage road at northbound Exit 1.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) operates and maintains two welcome centers and five rest areas along I-85. Welcome centers, which have a travel information facility on site, are located at the collective-distributor road for exit 1 (northbound), and around mile marker 103 (southbound); rest areas are located at mile markers 17 (northbound) and 24 (southbound). Common at all locations are public restrooms, public telephones, vending machines, picnic area and barbecue grills.^[7]

The South Carolina Department of Public Safety (SCDPS) and State Transport Police (STP) operate and maintain one truck inspection/weigh station, located northbound at mile marker 9 in Fair Play.^[8] The location utilizes weigh-in-motion that does not require commercial motor vehicles to leave the freeway to be weighed.

History [edit]

Established in 1959, Interstate 85 originally ran along the newly widened four-lane section of US 29, from Fort Prince Boulevard (SC 129, exit 68) to the North Carolina state line. Construction also started around that time extending Interstate 85 from Fort Prince Boulevard to Interstate 185, south of Greenville. In 1961, construction started on another section, from Georgia state line to US 29, near Piedmont. In 1962, US 29 was removed from the entire existing section of Interstate 85 at that time.

By 1964, Interstate 85 was extended south from Fort Prince Boulevard to Interstate 185/US 29. Also, smaller sections were open: from the Georgia state line to Road 23 (exit 4) and from SC 24/SC 243 (exit 11) to US 178 (exit 21). By 1967, Interstate 85 was completed in the state.

In 1995, Interstate 85 was moved onto a new six-lane freeway north of its existing route near Spartanburg, from mile markers 69-77. The old alignment became Interstate 85 Business freeway loop. In 1998, exit 46B was added, connecting to Pleasantburg Drive (SC 291).^[9]

Being a four-lane freeway since inception, the first widening to six-lanes (excluding the new freeway near Spartanburg) was completed in 1998, from US 276 to Interstate 385. By end of 2003, Interstate 85 was widened to 6-lanes from US 76/SC 28 (exit 19) north to US 221 (exit 78).

Exit list [edit]

Auxiliary routes [edit]

	Interstate	City	Type	Notes
	Interstate 85 Business	Spartanburg	Business loop	Freeway grade throughout the route.
	Interstate 185	Greenville	Spur	Enters into Greenville from the southwest, between I-85 and I-385 is toll road
	Interstate 385	Greenville	Spur	Enters into Greenville from the east, connects I-85 with I-26 towards Columbia
	Interstate 585	Spartanburg	Spur	Enters into Spartanburg from the northwest, via Interstate 85 Business; it does not connect directly to I-85

See also [edit]

References [edit]

1. ^ "Table 1: Main Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System Of Interstate and Defense Highways". Route Log and Finder List. Federal Highway Administration. October 31, 2002. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
2. ^ ^{a b} "STATEWIDE HIGHWAYS 2012". South Carolina Department of Transportation. 2012. Archived from the original on June 13, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
3. ^ "HMdb.org: Vandiver Bridge". Retrieved February 10, 2013.
4. ^ "Interstate 85@Interstate-Guide.com". Retrieved February 10, 2013.
5. ^ "Gaffney, South Carolina: Graveyard in the I-85 Median". Retrieved February 10, 2013.
6. ^ Google (October 4, 2014). "Google Street View of I-85 from southbound Welcome Center to North Carolina state line" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
7. ^ "SC Rest Areas Map". South Carolina Department of Transportation. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
8. ^ "Fair Play Weigh Station Information". Coops are Open.com. July 19, 2012. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
9. ^ "Mapmikey's South Carolina Highways Page: Interstate 85". Retrieved February 10, 2013. ^{[ unreliable source ]}

External links [edit]

Route map:

KML is from Wikidata

• Media related to Interstate 85 in South Carolina at Wikimedia Commons

Interstate 85
Previous state: Georgia	South Carolina	Next state: North Carolina

Brockman Used Cars Hwy 101 Greer South Carolina

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_85_in_South_Carolina

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