Interstate 585

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Interstate 585
Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System
Length: 2.25 mi[1] (3.62 km)
Formed: 1955 (as part of US 176)
South end: BUS Spur 585/US 176/US 221/SC 9 in Spartanburg, SC
North end: I-85 Bus./US 176 near Spartanburg
South Carolina highways

Interstate 585 (abbreviated I-585) stretches from an Interstate 85 Business loop to Spartanburg, South Carolina. I-585 is co-signed the entire length with U.S. Highway 176 and uses US 176's exit number system instead of its own. Between exits 23 (I-85 Business) and 25B (U.S. Highway 221) the road is a freeway but has substandard or no shoulders. To the south of exit 25B, U.S. 176 becomes a surface road but there exist I-585 shields in this region (Photos: [1] from [2], [3] from [4]). There also exists a red and blue "I-585 Business spur" shield at U.S. Highway 29 (Photo: [5] from [6]), making it unclear whether I-585 terminates at exit 25B and the road from there to U.S. 29 is I-585 Business, or I-585 extends to U.S. 29.

Contents

[edit] History

The location of I-585 was planned as Interstate 26 in this 1955 map. The connection along U.S. Route 221 was never built.
The location of I-585 was planned as Interstate 26 in this 1955 map. The connection along U.S. Route 221 was never built.

This highway was once connected to Interstate 85 from opening until ca. 1994. That year, I-85 was moved north to bypass Spartanburg, leaving I-585 an orphan, segregated from the rest of the Interstate Highway system. There is a project underway to extend I-585 along U.S. 176 to I-85's new location.[2][3]

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The ramps from I-585 Southbound to S.C. 9 Northbound, and US 221, Chesnee Highway, were opened to the public on September 21, 2006. One ramp exists leading I-585 Southbound traffic from Pine Street to the intersections with these two highways. Traffic leaves the main line of I-585 and sees a stop light with right, straight, or left turning options. The left turn leads to S.C. 9 Northbound (Southbound S.C. 9 follows US 176 East from this point, so traffic wishing to enter S.C. 9 Southbound should remain on I-585 South), the straight lane of the stop light leads to a fork with the option to go left (rejoining with I-585 Southbound traffic), or right (another ramp leading to US 221, ending in a stop sign with left or right turning options for US 221 North and South, respectively), and finally a right at the stop light (leading traffic to South US 221, which is called Church Street). The roadwork along I-585 has almost diminished, and most of the ramps are now open.

The ramps from I-585 Southbound to Business Loop 85 North and South opened on October 9, 2006. The Ramp from I-585 Northbound to Business Loop 85 Northbound is open and the Southbound Business Loop 85 entrance is open. The ramp from Business Loop 85 Southbound to I-585 Northbound is open (it is now a large fly-over ramp that overpasses the East Campus Boulevard exit), and the ramp from Business Loop 85 Southbound to I-585 Southbound has been re-opened as well. The ramp from Business Loop 85 Northbound to I-585 Southbound is open, and there exists no ramp from Business Loop 85 Northbound to I-585 Northbound. The Entrance from I-85 Business Loop Southbound to I-585 Northbound adds a lane to I-585 Northbound traffic just in front of the USCU Campus that eventually turns into the "exit only" for I-85 Bypass Northbound. Currently, I-585/US 176 remains a freeway until the interchange with the I-85 bypass. This interchange is not a freeway interchange (Some cars on I-585 must cross oncoming traffic in order to access a certain direction of I-85 Bypass, but the I-85 Bypass traffic only witnesses a normal diamond interchange). There also exists a traffic signal right before this interchange, which represents the official end of this freeway. The ramps connecting East Campus Boulevard, the main road of the USCU campus, have been upgraded to meet interstate standards, and are now open, connecting campus traffic with I-585 North and Southbound. The Valley Falls Road Interchange has also been copmpleted and all ramps leading to and from I-585 North and Southbound are open. The Northbound I-585 entrance from East Campus Boulevard turns into the "exit only" for Valley Falls Road.

[edit] Exit list

# Destinations Notes
SC 56 – Spartanburg No northbound exit
I-85 – Greenville, Charlotte Includes at-grade intersections
Fairforest Road At-grade
22 Valley Falls Road
North end of freeway
East Campus Boulevard - USC Upstate
23 I-85 Bus. – Greenville, Charlotte Present north end of I-585; signed as exits 23A (south) and 23B (north)
24 California Avenue
25A SC 9 north (Boiling Springs Road) North end of SC 9 overlap
25B US 221 (Whitney Road, Church Street)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Route Log and Finder List - Interstate System: Table 2. FHWA. Retrieved on 2007-10-04.
  2. ^ I-585/US 176
  3. ^ Interstate 585

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Auxiliary routes of Interstate 85