McMaster will seek $2M to help fix ‘vital gateway’ exit at Carowinds near Charlotte
Gov. Henry McMaster will ask legislators for $2 million to improve traffic at Interstate 77 and Carowinds, despite lingering uncertainty on whether the area will keep road money it already has.
McMaster joined state and county officials at Carowinds on Thursday morning. He announced the $2-million request that will appear in his state budget proposal next month for a feasibility study to determine how to fix Exit 90. That’s the Carowinds interchange, just south of the South Carolina and North Carolina line between Fort Mill and Charlotte.
Details on improvements or timing are sparse, but officials say the study will lead to a plan they can use to secure grants or other funding sources.
“It provides the foundation to start,” said Justin Powell, state Transportation Secretary.
Interstate money swap in York County
The commitment to the Carowinds Boulevard interchange comes despite York County’s ongoing work to move funding away from the project.
York County asked for and received money from the South Carolina Transportation Infrastructure Bank in recent years for several interchanges. That state agency finances large transportation projects, but it’s separate from the South Carolina Department of Transportation.
Three years ago, the infrastructure bank approved about $75 million combined for Exit 85, where I-77 meets S.C. 160 in Fort Mill, and for Exit 82 in Rock Hill.
Exit 85 is under construction. Exit 82, where Cherry and Celanese roads meet the interstate, is in planning. Two years ago, the infrastructure bank approved nearly $64 million to upgrade Exit 90.
Infrastructure bank money was only designed to pay half or less of total project costs.
Skyrocketing construction costs in recent years put projects in York County and across the state in a funding pinch. So, York County asked the infrastructure bank to move the Carowinds Boulevard money to Exit 82 in hopes of completing the Rock Hill work.
County officials met with the infrastructure bank on Nov. 20. They’re waiting to hear back, and it could be February or later before they do, said County Manager Josh Edwards.
Carowinds improvement details to come
Still, county officials applauded the news Thursday that new money could come available near Carowinds. The money swap request was about securing the Rock Hill project rather than risk losing both to inflation that could cost years of delay.
“Our border with North Carolina is a vital gateway,” said York County Council chairwoman Christi Cox.
Road projects already take years and sometimes a decade or more to complete. The $93 million Exit 85 work under construction now won’t be complete until late 2027.
Road officials haven’t settled on a layout yet for Exit 82, so it’ll be years behind Exit 85. The Carowinds interchange is behind both those jobs.
The state Transportation Department will perform the Carowinds interchange study, pending state budget approval.
An interchange study that size could take a couple of years to complete, said Pennies for Progress program manager Patrick Hamilton. Pennies, the voter-approved 1% sales tax to fund York County road jobs, has several ongoing projects on the U.S. 21 corridor that runs beside Carowinds.
The state study will focus on cars and freight, but not on public transit options, Powell said. He didn’t provide information on how the Carowinds interchange might be funded, other than stressing how important a completed study is when state or federal groups rank road projects for funding.
The busiest road in SC
The interstate in front of Carowinds is South Carolina’s busiest road, and it doesn’t take a long look at the traffic there to figure out why.
The Carowinds interchange sits squarely between Charlotte and York County’s most populated areas. It’s a straight line through Fort Mill to Rock Hill.
Commuting traffic that collects at Gold Hill Road, Baxter, Celanese Road and other interchanges in York County all passes by Carowinds going to or from Charlotte. Interstate trips between Charlotte and Columbia follow the same route.
South Carolina Department of Transportation traffic counts show an average of 171,200 vehicles per day travel the interstate at the state line at Carowinds. That’s the highest number statewide.
What’s more, traffic is growing there too.
Traffic counts increased by 8,100 vehicle trips per day from 2021 to last year. In the past decade, trips are up more than 25%. That’s 35,000 daily trips. For perspective, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates the entire population of Fort Mill is nearly 34,000 people.
York County traffic a South Carolina concern
Carowinds, the bi-state amusement park on 400 acres, is an example of what gets McMaster’s attention when he looks across York County. Carowinds brings lots of people and lots of business. Both require a strong road network.
“Interstates are the lifeblood of the travel and tourism industry,” said former Carowinds general manager Pat Jones.
For the thousands of workers and millions of guests who pass through Carowinds each year, roads aren’t just about revenue. “Ensuring they arrive safely is a priority,” Jones said.
York County has done its part to improve roads, McMaster said. The Pennies program that started in 1997 was the first of its kind in South Carolina, he said, and helped leverage millions of state and federal dollars for roads. Still, a growing population means York County needs state help.
The Carowinds interchange was built between 1971 and 1975. The new study and the upgrades it will recommend are all about moving traffic more efficiently, McMaster said.
“If there’s any place that needs traffic moving,” he said, “it’s here.”
This story was originally published December 12, 2024 at 2:52 PM with the headline "McMaster will seek $2M to help fix ‘vital gateway’ exit at Carowinds near Charlotte."
