South Carolina Roads - I-585/US 176/SC 9

and I-585/US 176/SC 9


As I said on my US 176-alone page (I-585 and US 176 are multiplexed for 585's entire length), linked at bottom, this is not actually I-585 yet. I-585 is signed without "TO" banners for quite a distance before it becomes a freeway and thus the Interstate itself. At least some of that length is technically I-585 Business. This photo is courtesy Lou Corsaro, as was the entire (NB) page before I got to Spartanburg.


Even the first sign in this NB run isn't technically on I-585 yet, but it definitely belongs here. I-585 is one of the last places left in South Carolina with original button copy - the signs I have on my I-85 page have been replaced. Mileage is based on US 176, but I-585 is never intended to be extended northwest into North Carolina.


The last SB button copy sign for Exit 25 is probably not one the state is responsible for.


In January 2014, a southbound trailer hauling heavy equipment missed the height restriction and severely damaged this one section of the California Avenue overpass, leading to its removal. With SCDOT already planning reconstruction, they took the whole thing down shortly after I went through in March and rebuilt it.


Okay, now things get a little fuzzy. I-585 just had an interchange with I-85 Business, which until 1994 was the I-85 mainline. That means that I-585 never had a reason to be extended north to this point (or beyond) along US 176. When I-85 was moved around Spartanburg to the west, I-585 still ended at I-85 Business because there was no freeway between there and the new I-85. This wasn't a terrible problem, because obviously the Business route was good enough to be an Interstate, but for some reason South Carolina didn't want to make it I-285, so they instead extended I-585 northwest along US 176 to meet the new I-85. The problem is that US 176 is not a freeway, and the solution to that problem is simple: upgrade about 2 miles of arterial. This was divided into two contracts, the first of which constructed this interchange at what I would call Exit 22 (which I think is what would go on the naked supports over the Valley Falls Road BGS), and the second of which disappeared soon after, leaving I-585 as one of a very few Interstates with traffic signals (I-180 WY and I-78 NJ are the best known).
As far as the sign goes, the I-85 shield is centered, and the word "NORTH" looks very much like an add-on. Also, there's a greenout, all of which suggests unrealized plans. Michael Miller tells me this is a contractor error; Greenville was covered because the exit only goes one way, but the future planned interchange will modify the current diamond to have direct ramps to and from I-85. When all is said and done decades from now, I-585 traffic will no longer have to turn left to get to I-85 South, the "Exit Only" offramp will have a split to the two directions of I-85, and all will look normal and be well. I bet this sign will need to be replaced before then.


Just after the Valley Falls Road exit, US 176 is most certainly signed as I-585, no FUTURE about it. It's also mistakenly signed as North on the one assembly. Gotta love how many state-name shields there are in South Carolina.


Speaking of state name shields, this is a rare (in SC) width error.


The end of I-585 NB, ending with another of Lou Corsaro's photos. That left BGS is a little older, but they were probably holding out on replacing it until the new ramp was suppoed to be constructed. That timeframe has, by now, run out. Given that the approach signage for this exit (Exit 21, I presume?) was intended to have both directions of I-85 in the right lane, I don't know why only I-85 North gets the Exit Only treatment here, with no room to alter the sign. Unless, as Michael said, the first sign was in error. I said in 2008 that time will tell on this one, and time has told us not to bother thinking about it.

Onto US 176 alone and US 176/SC 9
Exit 25 to SC 9 alone


Exit 25 to US 221
Onto I-85
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