Interstate 85 in 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 (171.04 km)
Existed	1959–present
NHS	Entire route
Major junctions
South end	I-85 at Georgia state line
Major intersections	I-185 / US 29 near Greenville I-385 in Greenville I-26 near Spartanburg
North end	I-85 at North Carolina state line
Location
Country	United States
State	South Carolina
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

Interstate 85 (I-85) in the U.S. state of South Carolina 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

Georgia state line to Greenville

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

Greenville to Spartanburg

I-85 southbound at interchange with I-185/US 29 in Greenville

I-85 bypasses Greenville to the south but provides a link into the city via auxiliary routes I-185 and I-385. US 29 splits from I-85 and joins I-185 toward downtown Greenville.

Two key upstate businesses can be seen from this portion of the Interstate. One is Michelin's North American headquarters (exit 54) and the other is the BMW plant, located in Greer (exit 60). I-85 also passes Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport (exit 57), which serves the Greenville–Spartanburg–Anderson metropolitan area.

Spartanburg to North Carolina state line

Near Spartanburg, I-85 takes a northern bypass of the city with a higher speed limit of 70 mph (110 km/h), while an older alignment designated as I-85 Business (I-85 Bus.) freeway loop continues along a more direct path at a lower speed limit of 55 mph (89 km/h). Along the bypass routing, I-85 connects with I-26 (exit 70) and indirectly connects with I-585, via US 176 (exit 72).

Northeast of exit 80, I-85 dips below a 22-foot-5-inch-high (6.83 m) railroad bridge originally used by the Clinchfield Railroad (now CSX Transportation's Blue Ridge Subdivision), which also contains a provision for a frontage road along the southbound lane named Dewberry Road. At milemarker 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 milemarker 95, an old plantation cemetery is located on a knoll in the median of I-85 (more visible to see on southbound lanes). A 20-foot-6-inch-high (6.25 m) rail-trail bridge can be found in the vicinity of Blacksburg between exits 100 and 102. At milemarker 103 is the southbound welcome center. I-85 enters North Carolina 3.4 miles (5.5 km) later.

Services

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 collector–distributor road for exit 1 (northbound) and around milemarker 103 (southbound); rest areas are located at milemarkers 17 (northbound) and 24 (southbound). Common at all locations are public restrooms, public telephones, vending machines, picnic area, and barbecue grills.

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

History

Michelin North American headquarters near Greenville at exit 54 in 2008

Established in 1959, I-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 I-85 from Fort Prince Boulevard to I-185, south of Greenville. In 1961, construction started on another section, from the Georgia state line to US 29, near Piedmont. In 1962, US 29 was removed from the entire existing section of I-85 at that time.

By 1964, I-85 was extended south from Fort Prince Boulevard to I-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, I-85 was completed in the state. It was South Carolina's first Interstate Highway fully completed.

In 1995, I-85 was moved onto a new six-lane freeway north of its existing route near Spartanburg, from milemarkers 69–77. The old alignment became the I-85 Bus. freeway loop. In 1998, exit 46B was added, connecting to Pleasantburg Drive (SC 291).

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 I-385. By end of 2003, I-85 was widened to six lanes from US 76/SC 28 (exit 19) north to US 221 (exit 78). The last original 27 miles (43 km) segment between milemarker 79 and the North Carolina state line is currently in the process of being widened to six lanes, which includes replacing and, in some cases, eliminating many of the previously intriguing exit/entrance ramps.

The original low 15-foot-high (4.6 m) railroad bridge originally used by the Clinchfield Railroad east of exit 80, was replaced by a 22-foot-5-inch-high (6.83 m) bridge, which also contains provisions for Dewberry Road. The former 23-foot-6-inch-high (7.16 m) decrepit railroad bridge in the vicinity of Blacksburg between exits 100 and 102 was replaced by a slightly lower bridge for a future rail-trail.

Exit list

County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Tugaloo River / Lake Hartwell		0.00	0.00		I-85 south (SR 403) – Atlanta	Continuation into Georgia
				S. Earnest Vandiver Bridge; Georgia–South Carolina state line
Oconee	​	0.19	0.31	1	SC 11 north (Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway) – Walhalla	Northbound exit includes South Carolina Welcome Center; southern terminus of SC 11
	Fair Play	2.29	3.69	2	SC 59 north – Fair Play, Seneca
Anderson		4.03	6.49	4	To SC 243 / Road 23 – Fair Play
	​	11.17	17.98	11	SC 24 / SC 243 west – Anderson, Townville	Eastern terminus of SC 243
	​	13.66	21.98	14	SC 187 – Pendleton, Clemson
	​	19.42	31.25	19	US 76 / SC 28 – Clemson, Anderson	Signed as exits 19A (east) and 19B (west)
	​	20.64	33.22	21	US 178 – Anderson, Liberty
	​	27.14	43.68	27	SC 81 – Anderson
	​	31.78	51.14	32	SC 8 – Pelzer, Belton
	​	34.17	54.99	34	US 29 south – Williamston, Anderson	South end of US 29 overlap; Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Piedmont	35.20	56.65	35	SC 86 – Piedmont, Easley
	Powdersville	38.93	62.65	39	River Road – Piedmont
		40.19	64.68	40	SC 153 – Easley
Greenville	​	41.88	67.40	42	I-185 / US 29 north – Greenville, Columbia	North end of US 29 overlap; south I-185 toll road
	Greenville	42.75	68.80	44A	SC 20 (Piedmont Highway)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		43.21	69.54	44B	US 25 (White Horse Road)
		45.33	72.95	46A	Augusta Road
		45.53	73.27	46B	SC 291 (Pleasantburg Drive)
		46.01	74.05	46C	Mauldin Road
		48.17	77.52	48	US 276 – Mauldin, Greenville	Signed as exits 48A (east) and 48B (west)
		50.37	81.06	51A	SC 146 (Woodruff Road)
		50.80	81.75	51	I-385 – Columbia, Greenville	Signed as exits 51B (south) and 51C (north)
	​	53.68	86.39	54	Pelham Road
Spartanburg	Greer	55.96	90.06	56	SC 14 – Greer, Pelham	Southbound exit combined with exit 57
		56.83	91.46	57	Aviation Drive – GSP International Airport
		57.24	92.12	58	Brockman McClimon Road
		59.92	96.43	60	SC 101 – Woodruff, Greer
	​	63.32	101.90	63	SC 290 – Moore, Duncan
	​	65.89	106.04	66	US 29 – Spartanburg, Wellford, Lyman
	​	67.89	109.26	68	SC 129 north – Wellford, Greer	Wellford signed northbound, Greer signed southbound
	​	68.71	110.58	69	I-85 BL north – Spartanburg	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	​	70.62	113.65	70	I-26 – Columbia, Asheville
	​	72.48	116.65	72	US 176 to I-585 – Spartanburg, Inman
	Boiling Springs	74.87	120.49	75	SC 9 – Spartanburg, Boiling Springs
	​	77.35	124.48	77	I-85 BL south – Spartanburg
	​	78.46	126.27	78	US 221 – Chesnee, Spartanburg
	​	79.80	128.43	80	Road 57, Gossett Road
	​	82.11	132.14	82	Bud Arthur Bridge Road	Permanently closed as of 2021, was northbound exit only
	​	83.38	134.19	83	SC 110 – Cowpens, Chesnee
Cherokee	​	86.58	139.34	87	Road 39, Green River Road
	Gaffney	89.76	144.45	90	SC 105 south – Gaffney
		92.18	148.35	92	SC 11 (Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway) to SC 150 – Gaffney, Chesnee
		94.75	152.49	95	SC 18 to SC 150 / Pleasant School Road – Gaffney, Boiling Springs
	​	96.10	154.66	96	SC 18 – Shelby
	​	98.04	157.78	98	Frontage Road	Permanently closed as of 2020, was northbound exit only
	​	99.33	159.86	100	Blacksburg Highway
	Blacksburg	101.97	164.10	102	SC 5 south / SC 198 east – Blacksburg, Rock Hill	Northern terminus of SC 5; western terminus of SC 198
	​	103.95	167.29	104	Road 99, Tribal Road
	​	105.67	170.06	106	US 29 – Blacksburg, Grover
	​	106.28	171.04		I-85 north – Charlotte	Continuation into North Carolina
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

Related routes

I-85 in South Carolina has three auxiliary routes and one business route. I-185 enters Greenville from the southwest and runs between I-85 and I-385 as a toll road. I-385 enters Greenville from the east and connects I-85 with I-26 toward Columbia. I-585 enters Spartanburg from the northwest between I-85 and US 221 and becomes North Pine Street; it does not connect with I-85 as of 2022. I-85 Bus. in Spartanburg is freeway grade throughout its length.

External links

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