The new 85/385 Gateway

The opening of the final, new ramp of the 85/385 Gateway Project was made official this morning with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Greenville. Secretary of South Carolina Transportation, Christy Hall, made the announcement: “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,” Hall said. “A lot has happened since we broke ground on this project in February 2016. A dozen new bridges have been built, several new ramps added or modified and both I-85 and I-385 have been widened.” Hall said, “We now have 6 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.” Besides making the highways safer and easier to navigate, the new interchange is considered vital for the continued growth of the Upstate and South Carolina. “Transportation is a major component of our state’s economy and we know that the completion of this signature infrastructure project, which is designed to handle upwards of 350,000 vehicles per day in the future, is key to Governor McMaster’s priorities for fueling continued economic growth and prosperity in South Carolina,” Hall said. The 85/385 Gateway Project is the first of three high priority interchanges that the South Carolina Department of Transportation has identified across the state for strategic investment. The other two are Malfunction Junction in Columbia and 526/26 in Charleston. The total cost of the project is approximately $300 million. “I would like to thank the Greenville business community and the public for their support and patience during the transformation of this major interchange into the Gateway to the Upstate,” Hall said.