Existed: 1996 – present Opened 4 September 1993 Total length 4,828 m Body of water Ashley River | Counties: Charleston Clearance below 20 m Bridge type Box girder bridge | |
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Similar Box girder bridge, Arthur Ravenel Jr Bridge, Johns Island | ||
South Carolina Highway 30 Robert B. Scarborough Bridge (also known as the James Island Expressway or the James Island Connector) is a 3-mile (4.8 km) long freeway in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. The freeway runs from South Carolina Highway 171 on James Island to U.S. Route 17 in downtown Charleston.
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Route description
SC 30 begins at South Carolina Highway 171 on James Island, at exit 3. From there, the highway runs northeast, and has two interchanges south of the Ashley River crossing. Exit 2 has access to Harbor View Road and exit 1 is for the Herbert U. Fielding Connector (SC 61).
The route is an orphaned segment of Interstate 526. Approximately 7 miles (11 km) separate the eastern terminus of SC 30 from the eastern terminus of I-526's current extent. Mileage markers and exit numbers on both SC 30 and I-526 are based on an eventual merging of the routes: with miles 1 to 3 occurring on SC 30 and miles 10 to 30 used on the current Interstate 526 route.
Robert B. Scarborough Bridge
The bridge across the Ashley River is named the Robert B. Scarborough Bridge, named for a former state legislator and highway commissioner. The bridge is 2.9 miles (4.7 km) long and cost $124.7 million to build. The bridge also crosses Wappoo Creek, which is a part of the Intracoastal Waterway.
History
The route was proposed as early as the 1960s to provide a second and more direct connection between James Island and downtown Charleston. It opened on September 4, 1993 and provided a route off the island that did not require crossing a drawbridge. The route was studied as a toll road in the sixties, but it was determined that there was not sufficient traffic demand to fund the route and the bridge entirely by tolls.
Exit list
The entire route is in Charleston County.