Interstate 385

Interstate 385
I-385 highlighted in red
Route information
Auxiliary route of I-85
Maintained by SCDOT
Length	42.16 mi (67.85 km)
Existed	1962–present
NHS	Entire route
Major junctions
South end	I-26 near Clinton
Major intersections	I-185 Toll near Mauldin I-85 near Greenville
North end	I-385 BS / US 276 in Downtown Greenville
Location
Country	United States
State	South Carolina
Counties	Laurens, Greenville
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future South Carolina State Highway System Interstate US State Scenic
← SC 381 → SC 385

Interstate 385 (I-385) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway located in the Upstate region of South Carolina. I-385 is a spur route of I-85. The highway provides a connection between Greenville and I-26 to the south, connecting Greenville to Columbia and Charleston. Around Greenville, the last several miles of I-385 forms the northeastern quadrant of a partial beltway around Greenville's southern suburbs along with I-185.

Route description

SC 49 exit on I-385, four miles (6.4 km) before the road ends at I-26

After exit 42, I-385 turns into I-385 Business (I-385 Bus.) and becomes East North Street and later—for northbound motorists only—Beattie Place. The business route promptly ends at US Highway 29 (US 29; Church Street) near Bon Secours Wellness Arena in downtown Greenville.

The explosive economic growth of southern Greenville county is largely attributed to I-385 and its connection to the city of Greenville and the major cities of Atlanta and Charlotte (via I-85). This area is known by locals as the "Golden Strip".

I-385 features a rather unusual rest area in the median strip near Laurens that serves both directions of traffic. It was completed as part of the original design of the US 276 expressway in 1958, modeled after the type of single median-located rest areas shared by both north and southbound traffic (to save money). The design is similar to many of those built on turnpikes that predated the Interstate System.

History

1955 "Yellow Book" map of Greenville

The general idea—but none of the specifics—of I-385 were present on the 1955 Yellow Book map of the Greenville area. Also of note is that I-85 would have used the US 29 corridor from Greenville east toward Spartanburg based on the diagram.

The portion of I-385 that replaced US 276 (from South Carolina Highway 417 [SC 417] in Mauldin to SC 56/I-26 in Clinton) was initially the first phase built of a South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) plan that predated the Interstate System to upgrade and bypass existing through routes, the goal of forming a single limited-access highway from Greenville to the port of Charleston via the state capital of Columbia. This plan was scrapped as soon as the future I-26 was added to the act of Congress that set into motion the Interstate System. As a result, I-26 was one of the first Interstates in the south to open in significant mileage (most in South Carolina between 1959 and 1963).

Before 1985, I-385 was only signed as such from downtown Greenville to I-85. The portion of the freeway from US 276 in Mauldin to the southern terminus at I-26 was signed as US 276. When the connecting portion was completed, the entire freeway was signed as I-385.

For seven months ending July 23, 2010, northbound traffic could not use a 15-mile (24 km) section of I-385 in Laurens County due to a $60.9-million (equivalent to $83.1 million in 2023) project to pave the portion extending from SC 101 to the I-385/I-26 interchange near Clinton in concrete. The closing of a major highway generated controversy. Closing the Interstate for construction saved approximately $34 million (equivalent to $46.4 million in 2023).

Between 2002 and 2012, I-385 was widened from two to three lanes in each direction from just north of exit 24 near Fountain Inn to just south of Woodruff Road/SC 146 (exit 35), with the portion between exits 31 and 35 resurfaced in concrete.

Starting in February 2016 and expected to continue through 2020, the I-385/I-85 interchange is being reconstructed to decrease congestion and related accidents.

Exit list

County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Laurens	Clinton	0.00	0.00		I-26 east	Continuation beyond southern terminus; I-26 exit 51
		2.00	3.22	2	SC 308 – Ora, Clinton
	Laurens	5.31	8.55	5	SC 49 – Laurens, Cross Anchor
		8.55	13.76	9	US 221 – Laurens, Enoree
	Gray Court	10.34	16.64	10	Metric Road – Gray Court
		15.87	25.54	16	SC 101 – Woodruff, Gray Court
		18.87	30.37	19	SC 14 east – Owings, Gray Court	Southern end of SC 14 concurrency
	Fountain Inn	21.63	34.81	22	SC 14 west – Fountain Inn	Northern end of SC 14 concurrency
Greenville		23.10	37.18	23	SC 418 – Fountain Inn, Pelzer
		24.11	38.80	24	Fairview Street – Fountain Inn
	Simpsonville	25.77	41.47	26	Harrison Bridge Road
		27.13	43.66	27	Fairview Road – Simpsonville
		28.71	46.20	29	Georgia Road – Simpsonville
	Mauldin	30.14	48.51	30	I-185 Toll north (Southern Connector) / US 276 west – Atlanta, Anderson, Mauldin	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; I-185 exit 1B; eastern terminus of US 276
					Old Stage Road / E. Standing Springs Road to US 276	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		30.98	49.86	31	I-185 Toll north – Atlanta SC 417 (Laurens Road) – Simpsonville	I-185 not signed northbound
		33.07	53.22	33	Bridges Road – Mauldin
		34.13	54.93	34	Butler Road – Mauldin
		35.50	57.13	35	SC 146 (Woodruff Road) – Mauldin
	Greenville	36.20	58.26	36	I-85 – Spartanburg, Anderson	Signed as exits 36A (north) and 36B (south) northbound; single exit 36 southbound; I-85 exits 51B-C
		37.29	60.01	37	Roper Mountain Road
		38.87	62.56	39	Haywood Road
		40.11	64.55	40	SC 291 (Pleasantburg Drive)
		41.86	67.37	42	US 276 – Travelers Rest, Mauldin
		42.16	67.85	—	East North Street (I-385 Bus. north)	Continuation as unsigned I-385 Bus.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

Interstate 385 Business

Interstate 385 Business
Location	Greenville
Length	0.490 mi (789 m)
Existed	1962–present

Interstate 385 Business (I-385 Bus.) is a 0.490-mile (0.789 km) boulevard-grade business route of I-385 along North Street, between Stone Avenue (US 276) and Church Street (US 29). It is an unsigned highway. Its continuation along North Street becomes SC 183. It also connects to US 123 (Academy Street) and SC 183 (Beattie Place). Signage previously existed for this spur route but, by 2007, has been removed; appears only in the SCDOT Greenville–Spartanburg Metro map.

External links

• Media related to Interstate 385 at Wikimedia Commons
• Mapmikey's South Carolina Highways Page: I-385