Interstate 20 (South Carolina)

Interstate 20 (South Carolina)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Interstate_20_(South_Carolina)".

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Interstate 20
Main route of the Interstate Highway System

Maintained by South Carolina Department of Transportation

Length:

141 mi^{citation needed} (227 km)

West end:

I-20 at the Georgia line/Savannah River

Major
junctions:

US 25 / SC 121 in North Augusta

US 1 near Lexington

I-26 near Columbia

SC 277 near Columbia

I-77 in Arcadia Lakes

East end:

I-95 near Florence

South Carolina highways
< SC 19		SC 20 >

Interstate 20 is a major thoroughfare cutting across the state of South Carolina, linking the state with important transportation and business hubs to the north, west and south, including Atlanta, Georgia, Charlotte, North Carolina (via Interstate 77), Savannah, Georgia (via Interstate 95) and Washington, D.C. (via Interstate 95).

1 Route description
- 1.1 Proposed Extension of Interstate 20
2 Major cities
3 Major intersections
4 Exit list
5 References
6 External links

Route description

Interstate 20 enters the Palmetto State after crossing the Savannah River from Augusta, Georgia. Known as the J. Strom Thurmond Freeway, the highway heads northeastward, bypassing Aiken and Lexington before reaching the state capitol of Columbia.

At Columbia, I-20 crosses the Saluda and Broad rivers and travels through the northern part of the city and turns eastward, bypassing Fort Jackson and Camden before reaching Florence. It is at Florence where I-20 sees its eastern terminus at Interstate 95. However, for about two miles, the highway continues to downtown Florence as Business Spur 20.

Proposed Extension of Interstate 20

In 2003, The North Carolina Department of Transportation proposed extending I-20 eastward from Florence to Wilmington at the behest of North Carolina Governor Mike Easley and his 'Strategic Transportation Plan' for the southeast portion of the state. The proposed route would follow U.S. 76 east from Florence to Whiteville, North Carolina, then parallel U.S. 74/U.S. 76 into Wilmington. Part of this route is already designated the future Interstate 74. As part of the 2005 SAFETEA-LU transportation legislation, North Carolina received $5 million for a feasibility study for this extension.

While this extension has considerable support among towns in southeastern North Carolina, the South Carolina DOT has stated that they have no interest in upgrading their portion of U.S. 76 to an interstate. This is likely due, in no small part, to encourage eastbound vacationers to travel to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina rather than Wilmington and that they are concentrating their efforts on plans to build Interstate 73 that will terminate near Myrtle Beach.

Major cities

Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities

Major intersections

Exit list

County	Location	Exit #	Destinations	Notes
Aiken	North Augusta	1	SC 230 – North Augusta
	North Augusta	5	US 25 / SC 121 – Edgefield, Johnston	Exit to reach Greenwood. Westbound exit signs read "North Augusta", "Augusta."
		11	Bettis Academy Road - Graniteville
		18	SC 19 – Aiken, Johnston, Edgefield
		22	US 1 – Aiken, Ridge Spring	Exit to reach the University of South Carolina-Aiken.
		29	Wire Road	Exit to reach Aiken and US 178.
		33	SC 39 – Wagener, Monetta, Ridge Spring
Lexington		39	US 178 – Pelion, Batesburg-Leesville, Monetta	Exit to reach Saluda.
		44	Road 34 - Gilbert, Batesburg-Leesville
		51	Longs Pond Road - Gilbert
		55	SC 6 – Swansea, Pelion, Lexington	Signed as exits 55B (west) and 55A (east) westbound. Exit to reach Edmund.
		58	US 1 – West Columbia, Columbia Airport, Lexington	Exit to reach Cayce.
		61	US 378 – West Columbia, Lexington
		63	Bush River Road
Richland		64A	I-26 / US 76 – Columbia, Charleston	Exit to reach downtown Columbia, Columbia Metropolitan Airport and Charleston. Lexington-Richland county line parallels I-26 immediately west of the main roadway in middle of interchange.
		64B	I-26 / US 76 – Spartanburg	Exit to reach Greenville.
		65	US 176 (Broad River Road)	Exit to reach Irmo.
		68	SC 215 (Monticello Road) – Jenkinsvile	Exit to reach Columbia International University and the South Carolina Fire Academy.
		70	US 321 (Fairfield Road) – Winnsboro	Exit to reach Columbia College and Winnsboro Mills.
		71	U.S. Route 21 (North Main Street)	Exit to reach downtown Columbia and Belmont.
		72	SC 555 (Farrow Road)	Exit to reach Allen University and Benedict College.
	Arcadia Lakes	73A	SC 277 South Downtown Columbia
		73B	SC 277 / I-77 – Charlotte	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance only. Exit here to reach I-77 North.
		74	US 1 (Two Notch Road)	Exit to reach Dentsville
		76A	I-77 South – Charleston	Westbound exit includes ramp to Interstate 77 North - Charlotte. Exit to reach Fort Jackson.
		76B	I-77 (Alpine Road) – Charlotte	Joined with I-77 North eastbound only.
		80	Clemson Road
		82	Spears Creek Church Road, Pontiac	Exit to reach Elgin.
Kershaw		87	White Pond Road, Elgin
		92	US 601 – Eastover, Lugoff, Camden	Exit to reach SC 12.
		98	US 521 – Sumter, Camden	Exit to reach Shaw Air Force Base.
		101	Humphries Road
Lee		108	SC 34 – Manville	Exit to reach Jamestown Road.
		116	US 15 – Sumter, Bishopville	Exit to reach Hartsville
		120	SC 341 – Wisacky, Bishopville
		123	Lee State Park Road	Exit to reach Lee State Park
Darlington		131	SC 401 – Sumter, Darlington	Exit to reach Lamar and Darlington Raceway.
Darlington		137	SC 340 – Timmonsville, Darlington
Florence		141A	I-95 – Fayetteville
Florence		141B	I-20 Bus. / I-95 south – Florence, Savannah