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‘Right on time’: Growth predicted as ground broken for I-95/301 interchange

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‘Right on time’: Growth predicted as ground broken for I-95/301 interchange

SANTEE — Congressman James Clyburn says he and then-South Carolina Secretary of Commerce Bob Royall had great ideas for Santee 22 years ago.

“He said to me, ‘The place in South Carolina that bears your attention is Santee,’” Clyburn said. “He foresaw this area as a significant part of this state’s future.”

On Wednesday morning, nearly 200 county and state leaders witnessed another step toward fulfilling the vision for Santee as ground was broken for the much-anticipated Interstate 95 and U.S. Highway 301 interchange upgrade.

The $41 million project, called one of the largest in recent S.C. Department of Transportation history, has been described by leaders as a key to boosting economic development within the Global Logistics Triangle. The Global Logistics Triangle is the name the county uses to market the area bordered by I-26, I-95 and U.S. 301.

“We saw a vision for this part of South Carolina,” Clyburn said during the ceremony held at the Santee Conference Center. “Santee is beginning to flourish because its local leadership demonstrates great vision.”

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

Jafza donated 43 acres to the interchange project to show its commitment to the region.

The project includes the development of a full-access interchange where I-95 and U.S. 301 meet.

Currently, the interchange only allows partial access because it was built at a time when I-95 terminated at Santee.

The plan also calls for U.S. 301, which currently ends when it merges onto I-95 northbound, to be extended to connect with Old Number Six Highway outside the Santee town limits. The S.C. Highway 6 connector will connect to S.C. 6 between Intercoastal Lane and Milligan Road.

The project will require the construction of a bridge over I-95 and a bridge over the CSX Railroad.

S.C. 6 will be improved to provide turn lanes at the newly created intersection with the new connector road.

Construction will begin Oct. 13 and is estimated to take a year.

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.

Orangeburg County Administrator Harold Young said, “This is a generational investment for the county.

“The impact on eastern Orangeburg County will create a foundation for future jobs and families for years to come.”

Orangeburg County Councilman Johnny Ravenell, who represents Council District 2 and the Santee area, predicts within the next two years Santee will begin to see significant impact from the interchange project.

“Industries are coming,” he said. “We are right on time.”

S.C. Department of Transportation Secretary Janet Oakley said the new interchange will put Orangeburg County and the state on the global map.

“We have to have a 21st century transportation system if we are going to compete in that global marketplace,” Oakley said. Orangeburg and the region, “are poised today for unlimited economic success that will further contribute to the economic growth of the entire state of South Carolina.”

SCDOT Commissioner Sam Glover described the groundbreaking as a “giant step forward full of opportunity and promise.”

“Orangeburg is the largest rural county in South Carolina with a history of high unemployment and poverty that spans generations,” Glover said. “We have long worn the label, the hat, as one 12 counties in South Carolina that are nationally designated as a persistent poverty county. Change is going to happen as a result of this.”

Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, said projects like the interchange could help the county get rid of the “persistent poverty” label.

“All of us have to focus on removing that designation,” she said. “It will happen over time but it will take all of us working together.”

S.C. Ports Authority Board Secretary Willie Jeffries said the Santee area and Port of Charleston are tied together.

“The most important thing for a port is cargo. This will help us move that cargo all over the state,” Jeffries said. He’s the former head football coach at S.C. State University.

During construction, the existing I-95 and U.S. 301 interchange will be closed, with traffic detoured around the interchange beginning Oct. 13.

The southbound I-95 exit ramp to U.S. 301 will be detoured along southbound I-95 to U.S. 15, then along northbound U.S. 15 to U.S. 301. The northbound on-ramp from U.S. 301 to I-95 will be detoured using southbound U.S. 15 to I-95.

Directional message boards and detour signs will be placed along the routes to indicate the detoured traffic pattern.

Contact the writer: gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5551. Check out Zaleski on Twitter at @ZaleskiTD.