New I-95/U.S. 301 interchange expected to open in January

Orangeburg County Engineer John McLauchlin said the interchange upgrade has been delayed by the weather, but through the first week of December, all the concrete has been poured at the site with asphalt work still remaining to be done.

The project is to be fully complete in June 2017.

Preliminary work started at the interchange in August 2013 and a formal groundbreaking ceremony was held in October 2014. The project was scheduled to be complete by Oct. 18, 2015, but officials said that month’s flooding delayed the project.

Because the $41 million project was done in a design-build format, the contractor has been responsible for any delays or added costs.

The project has been described by leaders as a key to boosting economic development within the Global Logistics Triangle. The Global Logistics Triangle is the name Orangeburg County uses to market the area bordered by I-26, I-95 and U.S. 301.

The new interchange is expected to benefit plans for a 1,300-acre logistics, manufacturing and distribution park in Santee. The Jafza South Carolina project was announced in 2007 but has faced delays and changes since the worldwide recession.

The interchange upgrade is being funded by the Lower Savannah Council of Governments, $17.2 million; a federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery Grant, $12.1 million; federal earmarks, $11.2 million, and $500,000 in local funding from the Orangeburg County Transportation Committee.