The South Carolina Department of Transportation held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on December 6 to celebrate the installation the final new ramp of the 85/385 Gateway Project; a three-year, $300 million reconfiguration of two interstates that included the construction of a dozen new bridges.

[Above photo by SCDOT.]

“We are excited to deliver the final configuration of this new, modern interchange to the more than 220,000 vehicles that currently use it daily,” said Christy Hall, SCDOT secretary, in a statement.  “We now have six lanes on I-385 all the way from the Simpsonville to Downtown Greenville and I-85 has been widened all the way to Pelham Road [and] several new ramps added or modified.”

The 85/385 Gateway Project is the first of three high priority interchanges that SCDOT said it has identified across the state for strategic investment, the other two being “Malfunction Junction” in Columbia – the nickname for the agency’s massive Carolina Crossroads improvement project – and its 526/26 project in Charleston.

“Bringing relief to the motoring public at these three pinch points in our interstate network is essential and our duty in meeting our mission to operate a safe and reliable transportation network for our citizens and businesses,” Hall said.