Interstate 385 - History

History

The general idea — but none of the specifics — of I-385 were present on the 1955 Yellow Book map of the Greenville area. Also of note is that Interstate 85 would have used the U.S. Route 29 corridor from Greenville east towards Spartanburg based on the diagram.

The portion of I-385 that replaced U.S. 276 (from SC-417 in Mauldin to SC-56 / I-26 in Clinton) was initially the first phase built of an SC DOT plan that predated the Interstate System to upgrade and bypass existing through routes, the goal of forming a single limited-access highway from Greenville to the port of Charleston via the State Capital of Columbia. This plan was scrapped as soon as the future I-26 was added to the act of Congress that set into motion the Interstate System. As a result, I-26 was one of the first Interstates in the south to open in significant mileage (most in SC between 1959 and 1963).

Prior to 1985, I-385 was only signed as such from downtown Greenville to I-85. The portion of the freeway from U.S. 276 in Mauldin to the southern terminus at I-26 was signed as U.S. 276. When the connecting portion was completed, the entire freeway was signed as I-385.

For seven months ending July 23, 2010, northbound traffic could not use a 15-mile section of I-385 in Laurens County due to a $60.9 million project to pave the portion extending from highway 101 to the I-385-I-26 interchange near Clinton, SC in concrete. The closing of a major highway generated controversy. Closing the interstate for construction saved approximately $34 million.