If you, or someone you know, frequently travels on Interstate 95 northbound from Georgia into South Caorlina, you know the usuaul delays as the highway bottlenecks from the Peach State to the Palmetto State. But there is hope on the horizon.
A widening project for I-95 is now set to begin in four months. The basics have been cone: environmental mitigation, permitting, bidding, and the most importantly the estimated $600 million it’s going to take to complete this phase of the project. This phase includes widening the federal highway from Georgia to Exit 8.
South Carolina State Senator Tom Davis, from Beaufort, has a message to local and out of town drivers.
“There’s going to be some slowdowns and so, I think patience is the watch word here, and I think patience is a lot easier to come by when people know that there are plans on the books and money in the bank,” State Sen. Davis said. “That I-95 is going to be widened, it is going to be improved, it is going to be something that we’re proud here in South Carolina for once.”
The Department of Transportation prioritized the movement of freight through rural South Carolina. Drivers say an extra lane would make them feel more comfortable with increased tractor trailers.
Davis says he knows there’s going to be growing pains, he’s in contact with the feds about alleviating some of them. “I talked to Secretary Hall, the DOT Secretary, and she’s going to try and do a lot of the work at night, so doesn’t impact a lot of the travelers, but it’s going to take a couple of years,” he said.
The next phase of widening would be from Exit 8 to Walterboro. Eventually I-95 will be three lanes all the way to North Carolina.