Expressway Site South Carolina 17

South Carolina...

US 17:

Summary:
US 17 is a major coastal route connecting many beach communities, industrial towns and the port city of Charleston in South Carolina. In addition, it is designated in the National Highway System. It serves the areas of the Grand Strand, known as North Myrtle Beach, Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach in Horry County along with other beach communities in between. In addition, part of the Grand Strand is Georgetown County as well, although serving smaller communities of Murrels Inlet, Pawleys Island and Debordieu Beach. US 17 continues southward towards Georgetown, a manufacturing city along the river front. An hour later, it enters the greater Charleston area where I-526 serves as a bypass for US 17 around Charleston. US 17 dies down into a 2 lane country road entering Colleton County. US 17 cosigns with I-95 for a little while before it breaks off from I-95 running from 50 yards to a few miles parallel to I-95. US 17 stays parallel to I-95 but breaks off further to the east, continuing mostly as a 2 lane road through the marshlands before it crosses a recently built suspension span over the Savannah River, crossing into Savannah, Georgia.

In summary, US 17 plays many roles; a country two lane road, a 4 lane expressway, one way street through Charleston, a busy boulevard with amusement parks and restaurants, a wannabe frontage road running parallel with I-95, and traveling over a newly built suspension bridge on the Savannah River.

Junction Log:

Junction	Type of Access	Highway Type at Junction	Location
SC 179	Traffic signal	4-lane Arterial	Little River
SC 90	Traffic signal (southbound only)	4-lane Arterial	Little River
SC 9	Interchange	4-lane Arterial	Little River
US 17 cosigns with SC 9
SC 90	Partial diamond interchange (Northbound only)	4-lane Arterial	Little River
SC 9 / Sea Mountain Highway	Partial Cloverleaf interchange	4-lane Arterial	North Myrtle Beach
From this point until SC 22, US 17 becomes a boulevard through North Myrtle Beach with heavy volume and signals.
SC 65	Traffic signal	Boulevard	North Myrtle Beach
SC 22 / Conway Bypass	Interchange	4-lane Arterial	North Myrtle Beach
US 17 Business / Kings Highway	Interchange	4-lane Arterial to Expressway	Myrtle Beach
US 17 Bypass is an expressway with frontage roads with no driveways except " Broadway At The Beach " which are more like entrance/exit driveways with accel / decel lanes present.
Robert Grissom Parkway	Interchange	Expressway	Myrtle Beach
US 501	Partial Cloverleaf interchange	Expressway	Myrtle Beach
Myrtle Beach Jetport	Interchange	Expressway	Myrtle Beach
SC 707	Traffic signal	Expressway	Socastee
SC 544	Diamond interchange	Expressway	Socastee
US 17 Business / Kings Highway	Interchange	Expressway to 4-lane Arterial	Garden City
Enter Georgetown County. Leave Horry County.
SC 707	Traffic signal	4-lane Arterial	Murrels Inlet
US 17 continues south along the southern portion of the Grand Strand, entering Georgetown County and later entering the city of Georgetown, where it is a boulevard from the Grand Strand Bridge to the bridge south of Georgetown. There is no current Georgetown Bypass for US 17. There are no plans to bypass the city unless the SCDOT decides reroute the SC 31 freeway (Carolina Bays Parkway) past the SC 544 interchange and builds a SC 31 freeway that would parallel US 17 towards Georgetown and perhaps bypass Georgetown to terminate a few miles south of Georgetown. SC 31 is currently under construction between US 501 (where SC 31 currently ends) and SC 544. After the SC 544 interchange, the southern terminus of SC 31 will still be in Horry County, at US 17 Bypass between SC 544 and Holmestown Road.
US 17A and US 701 meet at the same 4-way stop lighted intersection; 2 blocks later is US 521 (US 17A and 521 meet up 2 blocks west of 17).	Traffic signal	Boulevard	Georgetown
US 17 enters Frances Marion National Forest.
Enter Charleston County, Leave Georgetown County.
In McClellanville, US 17 becomes a 5-lane boulevard for a brief time.
SC 45	Blinker	Boulevard	McClellanville
US 17 leaves Frances Marion National Forest.
SC 41	Traffic signal	4-lane Arterial to Boulevard	Mount Pleasant
US 17 becomes a boulevard until after I-526.
SC 517	Traffic signal	Boulevard	Mount Pleasant
Mathis Ferry Road	Traffic signal	Boulevard	Mount Pleasant
I-526	Traffic signal	Boulevard	Mount Pleasant
Ira Road	Traffic signal	Boulevard	Mount Pleasant
Spur I-526 (Chuck Dawley Blvd.)	Traffic signal	Boulevard to Expressway	Mount Pleasant
US 17 is accompanied by frontage roads to eliminate any driveways, however there are a couple signals. This marks US 17 as an expressway.
From I-526 to Coleman Blvd. (SC 703), some locals refer this stretch of US 17 as Johnnie Dodds Blvd.
Bowman Road	Traffic signal	Expressway	Mount Pleasant
Anna Knapp Blvd.	Traffic signal	Expressway	Mount Pleasant
Dragoon Dr.	Traffic signal	Expressway	Mount Pleasant
Shellmore Blvd.	Traffic signal	Expressway	Mount Pleasant
Houston Northcutt Blvd. VIA Mathis Ferry Road	Traffic signal	Expressway	Mount Pleasant
Margrath Darby Blvd.	Traffic signal	Expressway	Mount Pleasant
SC 703 / Coleman Blvd. (Former Business Route 17)	Interchange	Expressway	Mount Pleasant
The US 17 two span bridges have been replaced by a newer suspension bridge (like the one in Savannah) with a new direct connection to I-26. The catch to the new bridge is that it will be 2-3 miles further away from downtown Charleston and streets such as King St., Meeting St. and Morrison Dr. via East Bay St. will be utilized much more with additional traffic from the new bridge.
US 17 enters the city of Charleston over the Cooper River and Town Creek.
US 52 / Meeting St.	Urban Jersey-style interchange	Expressway	Charleston
I-26	Interchange	Expressway	Charleston
US 78 / King St.	Interchange	Expressway	Charleston
US 52 and US 78 are not posted at their crossings with US 17. The I-26 BGS has "TO 52 - 78" (in US rte shields).
US 17 continues as a 6 lane boulevard with a 3 foot jersey divider and no turns at intersections. US 17 is more or less a jersey boulevard in Charleston!
SC 30 (new addition to the Charleston Beltway / I-526 but not connected to 526)	Interchange	Boulevard	Charleston
SC 61 / Summerville Rd.	Interchange	Boulevard	West Ashley
SC 171 / Folly Beach Rd	Traffic signal	Boulevard	West Ashley
I-526	Partial cloverleaf interchange	Boulevard	West Ashley
SC 7 / Sam Rittenburg Blvd.	Traffic signal	4-lane Arterial	West Ashley
SC 165	Traffic signal	4-lane Arterial	Ravenel
SC 162	At-grade	4-lane Arterial	Hollywood
SC 174	At-grade	4-lane Arterial	Hollywood
US 17 becomes a 2-lane highway until I-95.
SC 64	At-grade	2-lane road	Jacksonboro
US 17 now has 3 different 4-lane (non-divided) sections between SC 64 and US 21 in Gardens Corner. Each section is 2 miles long and are referred to and posted as "passing zones". In addition, KEEP RIGHT EXCEPT TO PASS signs are installed along these passing zones.
SC 303	At-grade	2-lane road	Central Colleton County
Enter Beaufort County. Leave Colleton County.
US 21	At-grade	2-lane road	Northern Beaufort County
US 17 cosigns with US 21.
US 17A / US 21	At-grade	4-lane Arterial	South of Yemassee
I-95	Interchange	4-lane Arterial to Interstate	Northeastern Jasper County
US 17 cosigns with I-95.
SC 462	Diamond interchange	Interstate	Coosawatchee
US 17 exits straight as I-95 bears left, weird interchange. US 17 continues south as a 2-lane highway until Savannah, Georgia.
US 278	Possible signal	Boulevard	Ridgeland
US 17 cosigns with US 278.
SC 336	Possible signal	Boulevard	Ridgeland
US 278	Traffic signal	2-lane road	Southern Jasper County
SC 46	Traffic signal	Boulevard	Hardeeville
US 321	Possible signal	Boulevard	Hardeeville
I-95	Partial diamond	Brief 4-lane Arterial	Hardeeville
US 17 is a brief 4-lane highway until its junction at SC 170.
SC 170	At-grade	Brief 4-lane Arterial to 2-lane road	Southern Jasper County
SC 170 multiplexes with US 17 for 2 miles, then splits down historical US 17. The overhead signage shows ghost marks that current US 17 follows what had been US 17A to Savannah.
SC 170A	At-grade	2-lane road	Southern Jasper County
Enter Chatham County in downtown Savannah, Georgia as an urban freeway.

Pictures - US 17 in the Charleston Area:

Northbound Pictures
- Current Alignment of US 17
  - New Arthur Ravenel Bridge - Fall 2005
  - Expressway through Mount Pleasant
- Historical Alignment of US 17
Southbound Pictures
- Southbound Pictures - 2004
- Southbound Pictures - June 2005

History:

Date	Activity
Circa 1970	Interchange added at SC 703 in Mount Pleasant
1975	Myrtle Beach Bypass opened north of US 501. It was originally signed as SC 317.
1982	Myrtle Beach Bypass opened south of US 501. SC 317 was decommissioned and the entire length was signed as US 17 Bypass (the southern section never was designated as SC 317).

Future Improvements:

A Johnnie Dodds Boulevard Mobility Study has been conducted to ease traffic on the expressway northeast of Charleston. The proposed alternatives include converting some of the current signalized at-grades into a mix of grade separated interchanges and roundabouts. A public information meeting about the improvements was held on June 29, 2005. For more information, see www.townofmountpleasant.com.