For years, drivers navigating the Exit 85 interchange in Fort Mill have dealt with some of York County’s most frustrating gridlock. That’s about to change — and next week, commuters will see one of the most dramatic signs of progress yet.
A Bridge in Transition
The existing SC 160 bridge over Interstate 77 is set to close next week as traffic shifts to a newly constructed span. The changeover, scheduled for April 8–12, will require nightly lane closures in both directions on SC 160 near Exit 85, running from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. each day.
The work is being carried out by United-Blythe Joint Venture (UBJV), the contractor leading the $160 million project. Message boards will be placed throughout the work zone to alert drivers to lane shifts and closures, and law enforcement officers will be on-site each night to manage traffic flow. Officials are asking drivers to use caution and expect possible delays during the work window.
Once traffic makes the permanent move to the new bridge, demolition of the old span is expected to be complete by early May.
A One-of-a-Kind Fix for a Chronic Problem
The SC 160/I-77 Interchange Reconfiguration Project has been years in the making. Planning documents from a January 2020 public meeting show that in the five years prior, 711 crashes were recorded along the SC 160 corridor in the project area — the majority occurring on dry pavement in daylight conditions, a pattern that transportation planners say is characteristic of a chronically congested roadway rather than weather or visibility problems.
Traffic counts told a similar story. In 2015, roughly 31,300 vehicles passed through the SC 160 corridor near Exit 85 daily. Projections for 2045 put that number at more than 62,100 — a doubling driven by Fort Mill and York County’s rapid population growth.
Rather than patch the existing diamond interchange, SCDOT and its partners chose a more ambitious solution. The project replaces Exit 85 with an Offset Directional Interchange — the first of its kind in South Carolina — designed to separate conflicting traffic movements and reduce the bottlenecking that has plagued the corridor for years. SC 160 is also being widened to six lanes between US 21 and Pleasant Road, a stretch of more than a mile.
What’s Being Built
Beyond the bridge replacement now underway, the project includes construction of three major bridge structures, realigned on- and off-ramps, new through and turn lanes, updated signals and signage, drainage work, and pedestrian improvements along the SC 160 corridor. Groundbreaking took place in March 2024, and the project is funded through the Rock Hill–Fort Mill Area Transportation Study (RFATS).
Completion is anticipated in late 2027.
Getting Ready for What Comes Next
The upcoming bridge transition is one of the more visible milestones in a project that has been reshaping the Exit 85 area for the past year. For drivers who use the interchange daily, the message from officials is simple: be patient, watch for message boards, and expect the unexpected during late-night hours through the end of next week.
For a corridor that has long been synonymous with backups and near-misses, the inconvenience may be a small price to pay.
Source: SCDOT SC 160/I-77 Interchange Reconfiguration Project public meeting handout, January 2020; United Infrastructure Group project page, uig.net
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