Will traffic get worse before it gets better? When widening I-95 in Jasper Co. will begin
The S.C. Department of Transportation plans to widen Interstate 95 from two lanes to three lanes in both directions from the Georgia state line through Jasper County with work scheduled to be completed by 2032.
While that’s welcome news to many, commuters like James Duncan fear traffic will get worse before it gets better.
“It’s one of those things where it feels like you’re playing the lottery or rolling the dice,” said Duncan, who travels from Ridgeland to Okatie almost every day as a custom home builder. “Is it going to be good today? Is it going to be bad today?”
Part of the project also calls for widening I-26 to three lanes in each direction between Columbia and Charleston. I-26 connects to I-95 in Orangeburg County near the Dorchester line.
Construction timeline
Construction for I-95 is broken into three segments. Construction from the Georgia state line to Exit 8 in Hardeeville is expected to start in late 2024 or early 2025; Exit 8 to Exit 21 in 2026; and Exit 21 to Exit 33 in 2028, according to Kelly Moore, spokeswoman for SCDOT.
“I prefer to use I-95, but if this construction work starts, I’m going to avoid I-95. I’m going to come the other way,” Duncan said. “It’s going to be a nightmare.”
Some drivers already avoid the interstate completely, taking alternative routes to get to Hilton Head Island. Derek Grant said he avoids it when he’s traveling for work as a heating and air contractor.
“I try not to get on that interstate. You’ll be sitting in it. It comes to a standstill,” he said. “Traffic creeps. For some reason people can’t drive. They get in accidents when traffic is moving slow. I guess because they’re doing other things because (of) the traffic.”
SCDOT project manager Bradley Reynolds said workers will do their best to try to keep traffic flowing during construction.
“It’s going to be a construction zone, but they’re going to maintain those movements while they’re building,” Reynolds said. He added that, generally, lane closures will be restricted to night work only, and estimated speed limits will be down from 70 mph to 60 mph on the main roads, but “it really depends.”
After construction is done, Reynolds said traffic will flow much smoother, the roads will be able to handle higher capacities, and drivers will be safer.
The I-95 project is estimated to cost $360 million to complete over six years, and Moore said more information will be available on each specific segment closer to the start of the project. If the project had been spread out over 13 years as it was originally planned, it would’ve cost $1.3 billion.
I-95 was designed for much lower traffic volumes than it currently serves, according to the I-95 Feasibility Report completed by SCDOT in 2021. The report says traffic is expected to intensify over the next couple of decades, and parts of I-95 rank among the worst rural interstates in freight mobility.
SCDOT said it has had plans to widen I-95 since 2018, and construction for the project moved up three years after state legislators in Columbia designated $600 million in federal American Rescue Plan dollars to accelerate expansion projects for I-26 and I-95.
“(The interstates) can’t support the amount of cars that (are going through) causing traffic to back up,” Reynolds said.
In the meantime, residents, visitors and workers will do the best they can with traffic going in to or out of Jasper and Beaufort counties.
“Sometimes your [GPS] or your Google Maps will take you around” traffic congestion, Duncan said. “I’m hoping (the expansion) will help.”
