Interstate 85 Business (South Carolina)

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Highway in South Carolina

Interstate 85 Business (I-85 Bus. or BL 85) is a business loop of the Interstate Highway System. It is entirely a freeway running along the old route of I-85 in the vicinity of Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States. It is the only freeway to connect with I-585, which is now an isolated piece of the Interstate Highway System (as Interstate business routes themselves are considered isolated from the Interstate System[2]).

Route description[edit]

I-85 Bus. leaves I-85 at a northbound-only offramp, with a southbound flyunder ramp. The first on- and offramps are with local streets used as frontage roads leading to Road 41 (North Blackstock Road). Road 41 connects with the Fairforest community, to the south, and several industrial and distribution businesses to its immediate north and west. The road then has another interchange with I-26 just before the one with Fairforest Road. The road briefly curves to the left as it runs parallel to South Carolina Highway 295 (SC 295) near the exit for New Cut Road, where SC 295 ends, then crosses over a former Southern Railway railroad line between southbound exit 4A and exit 4B, which is a roundabout interchange with SC 56. Immediately after the ramps from that interchange converge with the main road, I-85 Bus. approaches exit 5A another interchange with I-585/US Highway 176 (US 176), but only includes a southeast bound ramp for northbound traffic. The next exit (5B) is a short offramp to the Milliken & Company headquarters for northbound drivers. Southbound drivers can still take exit 5B to US 176 and future I-585. Still relying on local bidirectional frontage roads, the road uses ramps to and from exit 6 to SC 9, which itself has quarter cloverleaf interchanges to I-85 Bus’s frontage roads. The penultimate interchange however (exit 7) is a normal diamond interchange, albeit with one of the frontage roads terminating at the southbound onramp. I-85 Bus. ends at a trumpet interchange with I-85, which has access to and from both northbound and southbound I-85, unlike the southwestern end, which only has access from northbound I-85 and to southbound I-85.[3]

History[edit]

This is one of two separate freeway segments to carry the I-85 Bus. designation. The other segment exists in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina, and it was also a former alignment of I-85. The old exit numbers are gone.[4]

The business loop was established in 1995 when I-85 was placed on new freeway bypassing north of Spartanburg. The old alignment, which was originally built as a super two for US 29, was upgraded to a four-lane freeway when I-85 was established in 1959. In 1962, US 29 was realigned back through downtown Spartanburg. Since 1959, few improvements have been made along the route, which is why it is labeled a substandard freeway.[4][5]

Spartanburg civic leaders in 2000 proposed that it become I-685 but was turned down by the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) because of cost of upgrades. As a compromise, the signage was amended calling it a “Freeway Loop” at both end points along I-85.[citation needed]

On July 12, 2021, SCDOT closed the central portion around Hearon Circle for bridge replacements. This closure is expected to last through January 2023. Traffic is detoured along I-85 and I-585.[needs update]

Exit list[edit]

The entire route is in Spartanburg County.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b “Highway Logmile Report”. South Carolina Department of Transportation. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  2. ^ Federal Highway Administration (December 2003). National Highway System: Spartanburg SC (PDF) (Map). Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
  3. ^ a b Google (February 8, 2013). “Interstate 85 Business Loop” (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  4. ^ a b c South Carolina Department of Transportation (1972). General Highway Map, Spartanburg County, South Carolina (PDF) (Map). South Carolina Department of Transportation. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 28, 2007. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
  5. ^ South Carolina Department of Transportation (1957). General Highway Map, Spartanburg County, South Carolina (PDF) (Map). South Carolina Department of Transportation. Retrieved February 7, 2013.

External links[edit]

Route map:

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