Interstate 77 in South Carolina
Interstate 77 is a south–north Interstate highway, extending in the state of South Carolina, extending from the national southern terminus at an interchange with I-26 near Columbia, north to the North Carolina state line near Rock Hill and Charlotte, NC.
Route description
I-77 is designated a Blue Star Memorial Highway for its entire length in South Carolina. The highway also has a trio of designations in the Columbia area. I-77 is named the Veterans Memorial Freeway from I-26 to the Congaree River, the William Earle Berne Beltway from the river to I-20, and the Charles F. Bolden Freeway from I-20 to the Richland-Fairfield county line.I-77 begins at a semi-directional T interchange with I-26 in the city of Cayce. The interchange includes a pair of ramps between I-77 and Charleston Highway, which carries US 21, US 176, and US 321. I-77 heads east as a six-lane freeway that crosses over CSX's Columbia Subdivision and has a diamond interchange with SC 35. The Interstate crosses the Lexington-Richland county line on its bridge across the Congaree River. I-77 has a partial cloverleaf interchange with SC 48, crosses Gills Creek, and meets SC 768 at a cloverleaf interchange.
I-77 enters the city of Columbia at its crossings of Norfolk Southern Railway's SC Line and CSX's Eastover Subdivision. The freeway has a connected pair of elongated partial cloverleaf interchanges with US 76 and US 378 and SC 262. The Interstate passes through an S-curve, within which the highway has a diamond interchange with SC 760, then follows the western edge of Fort Jackson. I-77 has a diamond interchange with Forest Drive and Strom Thurmond Boulevard and a partial interchange with Decker Boulevard as it veers northeast. The freeway veers north and leaves the military base and the city of Columbia at its partial cloverleaf interchange with SC 12.
I-77 passes through the unincorporated suburb of Woodfield and meets I-20 at an interchange with a pair of flyover ramps; there is no access from eastbound I-20 to northbound I-77. The Interstate continues as a six-lane freeway across Windsor Lake into the suburb of Dentsville. The freeway passes under CSX's Hamlet Subdivision and has a partial cloverleaf interchange with US 1. I-77 has a partial interchange with SC 277; the interchange includes ramps from southbound I-77 to SC 277 and from SC 277 to northbound I-77. Intertwined with the SC 277 interchange is a partial cloverleaf interchange with SC 555 ; within the interchange, the freeway passes under Norfolk Southern's R-Line. I-77 widens to an eight-lane freeway while it crossed at the interchange with SC 555.
As it leaves the Columbia area, I-77 has a diamond interchange with Killian Road, I-77 downgrades to a six-lane freeway while it's crossed Killian Road. I-77 continues and crosses US 21 with a partial cloverleaf interchange,. North of its diamond interchange with Blythewood Road in Blythewood, the highway enters Fairfield County. I-77 meets SC 34 west of the town of Ridgeway and passes under the NS R-Line. The freeway passes to the east of Winnsboro, which is accessed via SC 34 or the next interchange with Road 41. I-77 has junction with Road 20 and SC 200 near Mitford before entering Chester County. The freeway has an interchange with SC 97, which connects the county seat of Chester to the west with the town of Great Falls to the east. Great Falls is where the Piedmont-based Catawba River reaches the Fall Line and becomes the Wateree River of the Atlantic Coastal Plain.
At Richburg, I-77 has interchanges with Road 56 and SC 9 just before the freeway enters York County. The highway has interchanges with SC 901 and Porter Road on the southeast side of Rock Hill. I-77 expands to eight lanes at its partial cloverleaf interchange with US 21 and SC 5 and enters the city of Rock Hill. The freeway has a diamond interchange with SC 122 west of the Rock Hill Galleria. North of its underpass of the Columbia District rail line, I-77 has a pair of connected partial cloverleaf interchanges with US 21 and SC 161. The Interstate then leaves the city of Rock Hall by crossing the Catawba River.
I-77 has interchanges with Sutton Road and SC 160 as it passes along the western edge of Fort Mill. North of Fort Mill, the Interstate has a diamond interchange with SC 460. SC 460 provided access to the former Knights Stadium, home of the Charlotte Knights of minor league baseball until 2014, when the team moved into BB&T Ballpark in Uptown Charlotte. I-77's final interchange in South Carolina is with Carowinds Boulevard, which provides access to the Carowinds theme park immediately to the west on the South Carolina-North Carolina state line. At the partial cloverleaf interchange, US 21 begins to run concurrently with I-77; the two highways cross the state line together into the city of Charlotte.
Services
The South Carolina Department of Transportation operates and maintains one welcome center and two rest areas along I-77. The welcome center, which has a travel information facility on site, is located in Fort Mill at mile marker 89, and the rest areas are located in Richburg at mile markers 65 between Exits 65 and 73. Common at all locations are public restrooms, public telephones, vending machines, picnic area and barbecue grills.The South Carolina Department of Public Safety and State Transport Police operate and maintain two truck inspection/weigh stations. Both truck weigh station can be found in Rock Hill. The northbound weigh station can be found at mile marker 89, and the southbound weigh station can be found at mile marker 85.
History
Interstate 77 was originally planned to terminate at Interstate 85 in Charlotte, North Carolina; in 1969, U.S. Congress passed an amendment to the Interstate Highway act to extend the route south along US 21 into South Carolina, where it would continue south terminating at I-20, near Columbia, South Carolina. The proposed routing started appearing around 1971, going south from a stub freeway section of US 21, from the North Carolina state line, to US 21/SC 5, near Rock Hill; by 1975, the entire proposed route on all state and federal maps.The first section completed and designated as I-77 around in 1975, from US 21 to US 21/SC 161. In 1976, it was extended south to US 21/SC 5. In 1979, I-77 was completed and designated on a southern section from SC 277 to US 21. By 1981, the southern section extended north to SC 34, near Ridgeway; the northern section was also extended south to SC 9. By the end of 1982, the two sections merged, from SC 277 to the North Carolina state line.
In 1987, I-77 was extended south to SC 12, which finally accomplished its original objective of connecting with I-20. However, one year prior, I-77's southern terminus was changed to end at I-26, in Cayce; this created the establishment of Temporary I-77 around Columbia. On June 15, 1995, I-77 was extended east around Columbia on both new primary routing and existing routing, replacing unsigned I-326 and Temporary SC 478. Temporary I-77 was also decommissioned that same year. In the mid-2000s, I-77 was widened to eight-lanes from US 21/SC 5 to the North Carolina state line.
In 1976, I-77 received exit numbers along its routing; which were all renumbered in 1987-1988.