Interstate 385

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Interstate 385 Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System
Length:	42.16 mi[1] (67.85 km)
Formed:	1955 (completed 1982)
South end:	I-26 near Clinton
Major junctions:	I-185 near Mauldin I-85 near Greenville
North end:	BUS Spur 385/US 276 in Greenville
South Carolina highways

Interstate 385 (abbreviated I-385) is an interstate highway located in The Upstate region of South Carolina. It goes from Clinton, South Carolina at Interstate 26 to Greenville, South Carolina at Laurens Road/U.S. 276 (Exit 42). After exit 42, Interstate 385 turns into a Business Spur and becomes East North Street and later - for northbound motorists only - Beattie Place. The spur promptly ends at U.S. 29 (Church Street) near the Bi-Lo Center in Downtown Greenville.

The explosive economic growth of southern Greenville county is largely attributed to I-385, and it's ability to connect the southern portion of the county with 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".

Contents 1 Route description 2 History 3 Exit list 4 References

[edit] Route description

Major cities Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs
Columbia, South Carolina (via I-26) Greenville, South Carolina

I-385 features a rather unusual rest area in the median strip near Laurens, SC, 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 (saves money). The design is similar to many of those built on turnpikes that predated the Interstate System.

After exit 42, Interstate 385 turns into Business Spur 385 that then promptly ends at U.S. 29 near the Bi-Lo Center in downtown Greenville. It is one of 5 official Interstate business spurs in South Carolina (the others being spurs of I-20, I-126, I-526, and I-585).

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

[edit] History

This section does not cite any references or sources. (November 2007) Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

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 Interstate 85 would have used the U.S. Route 29 corridor from Greenville east towards Spartanburg based on the diagram.

The portion of I-385 that replaced US-276 (from SC-417 in Mauldin to SC-56 / I-26 in Clinton) was initially the first phase built of an SC DOT 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 SC between 1959 and 1963).

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

[edit] Exit list

County	Location	#	Destinations	Notes
Laurens			I-26 east	No access to I-26 west; I-385 south merges with I-26 east
		2	SC 302 – Ora, Clinton
		5	SC 49 – Laurens
		9	US 221 – Laurens, Enoree
		10	Metric Road – Gray Court
		16	SC 101 – Woodruff, Gray Court
		19	SC 14 east – Owings	SC 14 joins northbound and leaves southbound
		22	SC 14 west – Fountain Inn	SC 14 leaves northbound and joins southbound
Greenville		23	SC 418 – Fountain Inn, Pelzer
		24	Fairview Road – Fountain Inn
	Simpsonville	26	Harrison Bridge Road
		27	Fairview Road – Simpsonville
		29	Georgia Road – Simpsonville
		30	I-185 (Southern Connector) / US 276 – Atlanta, Mauldin	No southbound exit; access to Standing Springs Road via ramp for US 276
		30	US 276 / Old Stage Road / Standing Springs Road	No northbound exit
		31	SC 417 (Laurens Road)	access to SC 417 via I-185 southbound exit
		31	I-185 south – Atlanta	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		33	Bridges Road – Mauldin
		34	Butler Road – Mauldin
		35	SC 146 (Woodruff Road)
		36A-B	I-85 – Atlanta, Spartanburg	Single exit 36 southbound; to Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport
		37	Roper Mountain Road
		39	Haywood Road
	Greenville	40A-B	SC 291 (Pleasantburg Drive)
		42	US 276 (Stone Avenue) – Travelers Rest
I-385 continues northward on East North Street and Beattie Place (northbound) as Business Spur 385 to US 29

[edit] References

v • d • e Auxiliary routes of Interstate 85 Georgia: 185 · 285 · 485 (former) · 985 — South Carolina: 185 · 385 · 585 — North Carolina: 285 (future) · 485 — North Carolina-Virginia: 785 (future)