Interstate 385

Interstate 385
Golden Strip Freeway
Route information
Maintained by SCDOT
Length: 42.16 mi[1] (67.85 km)
Existed: 1955 (completed 1982) – present
Major junctions
South end: I-26 near Clinton
  I-185 near Mauldin
I-85 near Greenville
North end: US 276 / I-385 Bus. in Downtown Greenville
Highway system

Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System
Main • Auxiliary • Business

South Carolina highways

← SC 385 SC 389 →

Interstate 385 (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 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".

Contents

Route description

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 U.S. 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.

Business Route

Interstate 385 Business
Location: Greenville, South Carolina

Interstate 385 starts where it meets the Interstate 26, near Clinton and heads in a northwest direction where it ends with exit 42, near downtown Greenville. After exit 42, I-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 five official Interstate business spurs in S.C. (the others being spurs of I-20, I-126, I-526, and I-585).

History

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 U.S. 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.

For seven months ending July 23, 2010, northbound traffic could not use a 15-mile section of I-385 in Laurens County due to a $60.9 million project to pave the portion extending from highway 101 to the I-385-I-26 interchange near Clinton, SC in concrete. The closing of a major highway generated controversy.[2]

Exit list

County Location # Destinations Notes
Laurens Clinton 1 I-26 east – Columbia Southern terminus
2 SC 308 to I-26 west – Ora, Clinton Northbound signed SC 308 only
Laurens 5 SC 49 – Laurens, Cross Anchor
9 US 221 – Laurens, Enoree
Gray Court 10 Metric Road – Gray Court
16 SC 101 – Woodruff, Gray Court
19 SC 14 east – Owings, Gray Court South end of SC 14 overlap
Fountain Inn 22 SC 14 west – Fountain Inn North end of SC 14 overlap
Greenville 23 SC 418 – Fountain Inn, Pelzer
24 Fairview Street – Fountain Inn
26 Harrison Bridge Road Southbound exit and entrance
Simpsonville 27 Fairview Road – Simpsonville
29 Georgia Road – Simpsonville
Mauldin 30 I-185 north / US 276 north – Mauldin, Anderson
31 SC 417 (Laurens Road) – Mauldin No southbound exit; southbound exit is via exit 30
33 Bridges Road – Mauldin
34 Butler Road – Mauldin
35 SC 146 (Woodruff Rd)
Greenville 36 I-85 – Spartanburg, Anderson Signed as exits 36A (north) and 36B (south) northbound
Single exit 36 southbound
37 Roper Mountain Road
39 Haywood Road
40 SC 291 (Pleasantburg Dr.) Signed as exits 40A (south) and 40B (north)
42 US 276 – Travelers Rest, Mauldin
44 Bryce Avenue, North Street Signed as exits 44A (east/north) and 44B (west/south) northbound
North Street north Northern terminus

References

  1. ^ Route Log - Auxiliary Routes of the Eisenhower National System Of Interstate and Defense Highways - Table 2
  2. ^ Cay, Nathaniel (2010-07-25). "I-385 reopened after 7-month closure". Greenville News. http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/07/25/1601956/i-385-reopened-after-7-month-closure.html. Retrieved 2010-07-25. 

External Links

Major Highways in Greenville County, SC
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Major U.S. Highways
Major South Carolina State Highways
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