Snow and supply chain issues haven’t been kind to road construction in York County. ”The last six weeks have been very tough on us,” Pennies for Progress director Patrick Hamilton told members of the Rock Hill-Fort Mill Area Transportation Study on Friday. Still, several major projects will wrap up soon.
In Lake Wylie, S.C. 274 and Pole Branch Road construction, at almost $38 million, is set to be completed in the spring. Near Fort Mill and Tega, the more than $12 million interchange upgrade at Interstate 77 and Gold Hill Road has a new concrete island and medians in place. It also should be finished in the spring.
”They will be looking to do another (temporary) closure, most likely in March,” Hamilton said, noting workers missed a planned weekend closure due to snow. In Rock Hill, a more than $40 million extension of Galleria Boulevard should open to traffic in the summer. In the Fort Mill area, the intersection upgrades at Fort Mill Parkway and Spratt Street, at $9 million, should be done in the fall. But York County roadwork won’t stop there. Pennies, the voter-approved cent sales tax for road construction, has a long list of jobs. Here are eight construction projects planned this year:
U.S. 21, HWY. 51
Approved by voters: 2011
Cost: $40 million
Details: Multilane widening in the Fort Mill area will run from Springfield Parkway to the North Carolina line. The road is an alternate to nearby I-77. A smaller Highway 51 project was approved by voters in 2003 but was wrapped into the larger 2011 vote. Work will run into 2025.
HWY. 557
Approved by voters: 2011
Cost: $25 million
Details: A five-lane widening of S.C. 557 in Lake Wylie from Kingsburry Road to S.C. 49. Expected completion: 2023. A separate three-lane widening picks up at Kingsburry and runs to S.C. 55. That $25.5 million project was approved by voters in 2017. Expected completion: 2025.
HWY. 72
Approved by voters: 2011
Cost: $20.7 million
Details: Widening from S.C. 901 to Rambo Road in Rock Hill connects the Saluda Road and downtown corridors. Expected completion: 2023.
RIVERVIEW ROAD
Approved by voters: 2011
Cost: $9.5 million
Details: The multilane widening of Riverview from Eden Terrace to Celanese Road in Rock Hill runs almost parallel to I-77, near Cherry Road. It’s in final planning stages. Expected completion: 2023. S.C.
160 EAST
Approved by voters: 2011
Cost: $4.8 million
Details: The multilane widening work from Springfield Parkway in Fort Mill to the Lancaster County line is in final planning. It’s expected to be completed this year.
SUTTON, NEW GRAY ROCK
Approved by voters: 2017
Cost: $3 million
Details: New turn lanes at the Sutton and New Gray Rock roads intersection near Fort Mill and Tega Cay should be complete this year. Similar projects include Sutton intersections at Sam Smith and Harris roads.
HUBERT GRAHAM WAY EXTENSION
Approved by voters: 2017
Cost: $2.8 million
Details: Dry Run Road will be extended 1,500 feet toward Gold Hill Road. The project connects to the Windhaven development. It’s just north of Hubert Graham, a prior Pennies construction. The extension should finish this year.
CELANESE, CHERRY, CEL-RIVER
Approved by voters: 2017
Cost: $1.6 million
Details: Upgrades to the busy Rock Hill intersection near I-77 is in right-of-way acquisition. An engineer is in place but not yet a construction company. The project should be done this year.
By John Marks, Staff Reporter with The Herald
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