The economic impact of I was highlighted in Business Week magazine on September 27, The cover blurb read:. The story, written by Dean Foust and Maria Mallory, indicated that by embracing "the global economy like no other" and by adopting an aggressive industrial policy to lure investment with incentives, States along I were achieving major dividends:. The strategy has helped transform the region bordering I, the Southeast's primary transportation artery, from a sleepy economic backwater into an area that's growing as fast as its prolific kudzu vines.
No where is the foreign presence more visible than in the rolling foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the western part of South Carolina. So many German companies have flocked to this area that locals have nicknamed one stretch of I "the Autobahn. In many towns along I, wages lurch ever upward.
This passage is reprinted at length because it illustrates how I, by itself, wasn't enough--rather, like a foot in the door, I activated the opportunity. If you want to know why the South is rising again, consider Project Pretoria. That was the code name BMW gave to its search for a low-cost site for a plant to make its popular 3-series models.
Over three years, the auto maker scoured locations in 10 countries. South Carolina, BMW officials mused, had in its favor a temperate climate, year-round golf, and, as the dollar declined against the mark, inexpensive antebellum mansions. There was just one problem: The only site that appealed to BMW executives was a 1,acre tract off Interstate 85 containing a large number of middle-class homes.
That obstacle evaporated under a determined onslaught by state officials. Sweet-talking pols, including Republican Governor Carroll A. Campbell, Jr. It was a stunning display of the state's efficiency and eagerness to attract new employers.
To land the BMW plant, South Carolina [also] agreed to screen all job applicants and then train BMW's entire work force through the state's technical schools. Many things contributed to this boom. According to the article, the States that I passes through were aggressive in seeking investment, in helping to train workers, and in building infrastructure to support the growth. The region's comparatively cheap labor, low taxes, and few unions also appealed to businesses thinking about relocating.
But as the article made clear, whatever advantages the corridor possessed in other respects would have been meaningless without I By providing the essential transportation ingredient, it opened the door to opportunity. The article pointed out that outside the I corridor, a growing disparity was evident. Education Secretary Richard Riley told the magazine, "Nobody comes to South Carolina just for cheap land and cheap labor anymore.
Geffert began the article:. Stressing that Interstate access is one of the top factors for companies locating their facilities, Geffert said:. Executives, Geffert found, were scouring the Southeast for alternatives "and touching off a scramble among communities eager to make their patch of road the next I Jonathan Yardley, a book reviewer and occasional cultural columnist with The Washington Post , is a native of North Carolina. For the first time in years, he traveled through the South, including I in South Carolina, in In a column on January 13, , he commented on his trip along I in a way that offers a different view of the region's economic boom:.
Along I in South Carolina, a stretch of road that was almost barren when last I saw it, one hideous mall after another sprawls across the landscape. Coming over a rise, one is faced with the massive, gaudy plant where South Carolinians now build BMW automobiles for the moneyed classes, which now include, judging by the highway, many South Carolinians.
Usage of the lanes requires an account with PeachPass. The Auburn-Opelika bypass was the first section of I completed in Alabama.
The freeway was extended north from there to Lanett in and also built between Mt. Meigs and Waugh the same year. Interstate 85 was completed from College Park north through Atlanta to Suwanee in Construction was underway along the remainder through northeast Georgia and southward to the Coweta County line.
The expressway was built in the late s and was signed as Interstate 85 Temp. The I alignment to the east was finished in Interstate 85 was completed through Durham and from Henderson north into Virginia by Interstate 85 across north Georgia was constructed between September and December Planning for a new superhighway that would later become Interstate 85 through northeast Georgia outlined several possible routes per a state highway department report issued in July They included four alignments: The northerly alignment was the favored route by Officials from South Carolina concurred with the alignment according to reports, with overall benefits cited including the new Lake Lanier and economic prospects for growing Gainesville.
This route was submitted to the U. Bureau of Public Roads in a February recommendation. Changes to Interstate 85 through northeastern Georgia followed in when Ernest Vandiver took the office of Georgia Governor. Some controversy ensued, with Vandiver referencing manipulations by the previous administration of Governor Marvin Griffin to endorse the upper route.
There was also suggestions that Vandiver pushed for a more southerly route to include his home county of Franklin versus a route near Talmo, Maysville and Martin. A public hearing for the route was conducted on November 10, , with the Commerce to Lavonia corridor laid out.
Opposition was apparently muted and months later the decision was sealed. Construction eventually opened 67 miles of Interstate 85 between Suwanee and the South Carolina state line on November 5, This was the first Interstate segment to link Atlanta with an adjoining state.
Associated work built the I Connector, which opened in October as Georgia The old alignment was redesignated as Georgia The initial stretch opened in Spartanburg County. Building the I in S. Increasing traffic counts up to 47, vehicles per day vpd and the substandard design of Interstate 85 through Spartanburg, which was originally built as a bypass for U. Upgrades for I were previously approved by the Federal Highway Administration in While upgrading the existing freeway was discussed, two potential realignments for Interstate 85 were also under study in One option involved building a new roadway on the south side of the existing route while reducing the number of interchanges to two.
The second option focused on a new alignment, 1. The south option was abandoned due to costs and the needed severe dislocation of developed property. The Spartanburg City Council opposed any relocation, citing economic impacts for having I rerouted further from the city. A study contracted by the council with an engineer and planning firm presented three options to provide better access between the city and Interstate The consultants also suggested that the old route of I be renumbered as Interstate to remain within the system.
The alignment included five interchanges, with U. An issue that arose was the connectivity of I with Interstate 85, as the relocation would disconnect it from the Interstate highway system.
Herman Snyder, chief engineer for the South Carolina Highway Department in , advocated for keeping the old alignment of I in the system. Construction finally broke ground on the new northern alignment for Interstate 85 in April Discussion however continued involving the number of the old route toward Spartanburg, with the state Highway Department formally requesting the designation of Interstate in a February 5 letter to the Federal Highway Department. Since I was deemed woefully substandard by Spartanburg, it was considered incomplete.
The road was slated to open in November , 25 but delays due to frequent heavy rainfall pushed completion back to December Relocated I finally opened after additional further delay on August 31, without fanfare or a formal ceremony. Final construction at the end of the project continued until November This included adding proper distancing of ramps and frontage roads, extending acceleration and deceleration lanes and improving ramp radii.
SCDOT added further that these changes would likely cause more damages to area businesses than benefits due to the need for land acquisition. Eleven of the 15 miles expanded saw the 36 foot median replaced with a concrete barrier.
The remaining four miles retained a grassy median with guardrail protection. SCDOT justified this project based upon 20 year traffic count projections that forecast 85, vpd using this same section of I Additionally, various overpasses along the corridor were replaced or otherwise altered to increase the overall height to at least 16 feet. A seven mile segment of Interstate 85 opened to traffic on September 7, between the east end of the Oxford bypass and Henderson. Work continued to December on the freeway leading south Upon completion, all of I between Durham and Petersburg, Virginia was open to traffic.
The final contract for constructing Interstate 85 across North Carolina was approved on May 14, Work ran in tandem with paving operations from Lexington north to Thomasville and Archdale. Completion occurred on October 15, Interstate 85 widens to eight lanes where it overlaps with Interstate 40 between Greensboro and Durham in North Carolina. A realignment of I to bypass Greensboro shifted the freeway from a shared alignment with I through Greensboro to a February 22, opened 4 route to the south and east of the city.
The new freeway varies between six and eight lanes from near milepost of the original I to the east end of the Interstate interchange. The highway was constructed as part of the overall planned Greensboro Beltway, a circumferential highway looping south from Joseph M. Interstate 85 turns east onto the bypass of Greensboro while three lanes wind northward onto Business Loop I toward Downtown. For example, if NCDOT saw an accident occur, it instantly dispatched Incident Management Assistance Patrol to the scene to help control traffic, and posted messages to electronic message boards to warn drivers about travel delays ahead and detour routes.
To reduce the amount of construction-related traffic on I, the team built ramps from the Clark Road and Belmont Road bridges onto the I median. Trucks used these ramps to transport materials. This innovative idea eliminated about 13, truckloads from the interstate. Transportation National Award of Merit Design-Build Institute of America. Related Projects. Mill Plain Bus Rapid Transit.
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