SCNOW.com: U.S. 301 Bypass key to growth (Leatherman)
The U.S. 301 Bypass opens a gateway to Florence that offers a better path for commuting college students, emergency workers and other motorists in the area, local leaders said during a Thursday ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“From this day forward, there will be countless lives saved because of swift and direct connections to our area’s hospitals,” state Sen. Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, said.
The bypass now is complete with a $15.5 million, 3½-mile extension of Freedom Boulevard from Pamplico Highway to National Cemetery Road. The two-year project takes the boulevard from South Irby Street to East Palmetto Street at the Florence Flea Market, less than two miles from Francis Marion University.
The new road will make the university “closer to Florence” and “a lot more accessible to a lot of people,” Florence Mayor Frank Willis said.
The bypass will provide an alternative to fighting downtown traffic for university students traveling from Lake City and other areas south of Florence.
The route should benefit Florence by reducing downtown traffic congestion, Willis said.
“But more than that … this road will be a real economic boost to two parts of Florence” that haven’t seen a great deal of growth, he said — the southern and eastern sides.
The completed Freedom Boulevard, along with Alligator Road, forms a connector between the southern and northern sides of Interstate 95 around Florence, Willis said.
After the ceremony, local officials and S.C. Department of Transportation employees formed a motorcade to make the maiden voyage along the new roadway.
The boulevard begins with four lanes near Freedom Florence, after which the road narrows from four lanes to two, although an asphalt center median provides space for turn lanes at intersections.
The road expands to four lanes again at its intersection with National Cemetery Road, where SCDOT has installed a new traffic light.
The first phase of another local project, the widening of Pineneedles Road, is scheduled to begin around February or March, SCDOT project manager Michelle James said earlier this month.
The first phase involves only the bridge over Interstate 95. The project was split into two phases so that work could begin while SCDOT approaches property owners during right-of-way acquisition, James said.
The project is the first of six in Florence County that will be paid for by a 1-cent addition to the sales tax, which will match $250 million approved by the State Infrastructure Board’s evaluation committee in July 2005.
U.S. 301 Bypass key to growth
Thursday, Nov 29, 2007 – 12:57 PM
By Charles Tomlinson