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This road has never made much sense for moving traffic. I live in Powdersville and work at Donaldson so I should be the target market for this road. In reality, it only saves me 3-4 minutes on my drive to / from work. I can't justify the ~$1.50 each way for 3-4 minutes.
I think when it was built, investors bought a lot of land along the route with the thought that the land would be developed into an industrial park. The reality is most of the land is still empty and development has been very slow.
From a traffic standpoint, the route just doesn't save much time. If you need to get from Powdersville to Simpsonville, you can take I-185 and save ~5 minutes over taking I-85 to I-385 at the cost of ~$3.
What the area could really use is a limited access route from US-25 north of Travelers Rest that ties into I-85 either east or west of Greenville.
I agree with this completely. If they made 25 a limited access from Cherrydale to the NC line (where it turns into a complete limited access all the way to 26) it would really benefit the area as a whole, increase growth in TR and provide a better opportunity to connect Greenville and Asheville.
I also think the Southern Connector should have followed the 153 route and connected with 123 in Easley as well as made 123 limited access from 25 all the way through Easley (obviously the ship has sailed on this one). That would have done a better job for connected Easley and even Clemson, Central and areas around there to Greenville and also given a more direct route to those areas for folks coming from Columbia and other areas south of Simpsonville.
I must say I really do not understand why they chose to do the interstates around here. Even with the growth in recent years, it still doesn't make a whole lot of sense. If you look at the highways like 276, 29, 25, and 123, it seems like they are much better aligned around the city than the interstates, like they should have followed those paths instead.
The road is a waste of money now, but eventually SE Greenville/Golden Strip corridor will be built out and development will be forced to start heading west. Better to already have it now.
I do wonder to though how different Greenville would be if it had a complete loop. Greenville is on the level of Knoxville and Greensboro, but their highways make them seem so much more metropolitan imo.
We're actually the 63rd largest MSA in the country, 1 ahead of Knoxville and 11 ahead of Greensboro. People don't realize how large our market is.
I'm not talking about MSA's. Look at Google Maps, Greensboro and Knoxville have a more sophisticated highway system that makes them look much larger in my opinion, when in reality all 3 are around the same ballpark.
I'm not talking about MSA's. Look at Google Maps, Greensboro and Knoxville have a more sophisticated highway system that makes them look much larger in my opinion, when in reality all 3 are around the same ballpark.
Oh, I was agreeing with you; my point was that we are larger than those metros (significantly more so than Greensboro) but our infrastructure is way behind them.
I think when it was built, investors bought a lot of land along the route with the thought that the land would be developed into an industrial park. The reality is most of the land is still empty and development has been very slow.
^ This and the money that was paid for the "rights of way" that were needed. Lots of familiar names ( to those with a knowledge of Greenville ) were associated with this project. Not to mention the financing mechanism used to build it was questionable, at best.
I do not know about that. Greensboro has its freeway system because of its strategic location within the state of NC. The same can be said for Columbia. Greensboro has a freeway system that would be sufficient for a metro of 4 million people. They used to only have I-85, I-40, and I-85 Business which all ran East/West through Greensboro. Then a Detroit Congressman, 20 years ago, wanted Michigan people to have direct access to Myrtle Beach. I-73 was planned to pass through the Greensboro and W-S areas and piggyback US 220 from Greensboro to Rockingham then directly to MB. But NC decided that it wanted to provide direct access from Rockingham to near Wilmington. So, they created two interstates, I-73 and I-74, that run through Greensboro and/or W-S. Also, US52 from Lexington (I-85) to W-S is being upgraded as I-295. I-74 runs from Greensboro to Rockingham to Wilmington and I-73 is supposed to run from Rocinmgham directly to MB via Chesterfield County. Greensboro has a freeway system for 4 million and the Combined Statistical Area's population is around 1.5 million. But those interstates plus the new freeways in the Raleigh-Durham areas are forcing toll roads into Charlotte's future. But I agree with you about Greenville-Spartanburg. Its freeway system is too small. But that is the problem with two cities sharing the limelite in the metro. I-26 may have been steered more toward Greenville had Spartanburg not been there. But you have two radial freeways in the metro and some larger metros only have two radials. But your area is lacking a beltway. The 385/185 is similar to an inner loop although it is off center. Raleigh's inner loop serves them well. Add an outer beltway and upgrade US 25 (as someone suggested) from I-26 and I believe that you are set for years to come. But I am no expert on Greenville. But, like Charlotte, Greenville may be the red headed step child that does not get the resources needed from the state capital.
\Also, US52 from Lexington (I-85) to W-S is being upgraded as I-295.
Interstate 295 is being built around Fayetteville, North Carolina. Interstate 285 is proposed along United States Route 52 into Winston-Salem, then onto the future interchange of Interstates 74 and 274.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The QC
But your area is lacking a beltway.
A northern beltway around Greenville should have been considered and implemented nearly 50 years ago in the early years of the Interstate Highway System. Extending Interstate 185 parallel to United States Route 25 up to Travelers Rest would not be a bad idea. I doubt it is feasible considering the development that has occurred between White Horse Road and the Saluda River over the years.
Anyone use this Highway at all. Everytime I pass by, it is empty. Why don't they go public with it?
I don't use the toll portion AT ALL - I avoid it - this is one of the most wasteful/useless highway projects I've ever seen - Greenville desperately needs an 85 truck bypass - the amount of trucks passing thru I-85 is mind blowing (and severely hampers local traffic) - this will only worsen in the next several years - the reactionary construction SCDOT is finally starting will not help
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