Interstate 385

Interstate 385 Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System
Maintained by SCDOT
Length:	42.16 mi[1] (67.85 km)
Formed:	1955 (completed 1982)
South end:	I-26 near Clinton
Major junctions:	I-185 near Mauldin (Exit 31) I-85 near Greenville (Exits 36 A-B)
North end:	US 276 / I-385 Bus. in Greenville
South Carolina highways < SC 385 SC 389 >

Interstate 385 (I-385) is an Interstate Highway located in The Upstate region of South Carolina. It goes from Clinton, South Carolina at Interstate 26 to Greenville, South Carolina at Laurens Road/U.S. 276 (Exit 42). After exit 42, Interstate 385 turns into a Business Spur and becomes East North Street and later — for northbound motorists only — Beattie Place. The spur promptly ends at U.S. 29 (Church Street) near the Bi-Lo Center in downtown Greenville.

The explosive economic growth of southern Greenville county is largely attributed to I-385 and its connection to the city of Greenville and the major cities of Atlanta and Charlotte (via I-85). This area is known by locals as the "Golden Strip".

Route description

Highway 49 exit on I-385, four miles before the road ends at Interstate 26.

I-385 features a rather unusual rest area in the median strip near Laurens, that serves both directions of traffic. It was completed as part of the original design of the U.S. 276 expressway in 1958, modeled after the type of single median-located rest areas shared by both north and southbound traffic (to save money). The design is similar to many of those built on turnpikes that predated the Interstate System.

Interstate 385 Business Spur
Location	Greenville, South Carolina

Interstate 385 starts where it meets the Interstate 26, near Clinton and heads in a northwest direction where it ends with exit 42, near downtown Greenville. After exit 42, I-385 turns into Business Spur 385 that then promptly ends at U.S. 29 near the Bi-Lo Center in downtown Greenville. It is one of five official Interstate business spurs in S.C. (the others being spurs of I-20, I-126, I-526, and I-585).

This section requires expansion.

History

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2007)

1955 "Yellow Book" map of Greenville

The general idea — but none of the specifics — of I-385 were present on the 1955 Yellow Book map of the Greenville area. Also of note is that Interstate 85 would have used the U.S. Route 29 corridor from Greenville east towards Spartanburg based on the diagram.

The portion of I-385 that replaced U.S. 276 (from SC-417 in Mauldin to SC-56 / I-26 in Clinton) was initially the first phase built of an SC DOT plan that predated the Interstate System to upgrade and bypass existing through routes, the goal of forming a single limited-access highway from Greenville to the port of Charleston via the State Capital of Columbia. This plan was scrapped as soon as the future I-26 was added to the act of Congress that set into motion the Interstate System. As a result, I-26 was one of the first Interstates in the south to open in significant mileage (most in SC between 1959 and 1963).^{[citation needed]}

Prior to 1985, I-385 was only signed as such from downtown Greenville to I-85. The portion of the freeway from U.S. 276 in Mauldin to the southern terminus at I-26 was signed as U.S. 276. When the connecting portion was completed, the entire freeway was signed as I-385.

Exit list

County	Location	#	Destinations	Notes
Laurens			I-26 east – Newberry	No access to I-26 west; I-385 south merges with I-26 east
		2	SC 308 – Ora, Clinton
		5	SC 49 – Laurens, Cross Anchor, Union
		9	US 221 – Laurens, Enoree
		10	Metric Road – Gray Court
		16	SC 101 – Woodruff, Gray Court
		19	SC 14 east – Owings	SC 14 joins northbound and leaves southbound
	Fountain Inn	22	SC 14 west – Fountain Inn	SC 14 leaves northbound and joins southbound
Greenville		23	SC 418 – Fountain Inn, Pelzer
		24	Fairview Street – Fountain Inn
	Simpsonville	26	Harrison Bridge Road
		27	Fairview Road – Simpsonville
		29	Georgia Road – Simpsonville
		30	I-185 (Southern Connector) / US 276  – Atlanta, Mauldin, Anderson	No southbound exit; access to Standing Springs Road via ramp for US 276. I-185 is TOLL at this point.
		30	US 276 / Old Stage Road / Standing Springs Road	No northbound exit
		31	SC 417 (Laurens Road)	access to SC 417 via I-185 southbound exit
		31	I-185 north  – Atlanta	Southbound exit and northbound entrance. I-185 is TOLL at this point.
		33	Bridges Road – Mauldin
		34	Butler Road – Mauldin
		35	SC 146 (Woodruff Road)
		36A-B	I-85  – Atlanta (take exit B), Spartanburg (take exit A) to Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport	Single exit 36 southbound;
		37	Roper Mountain Road
		39	Haywood Road
	Greenville	40A-B	SC 291 (Pleasantburg Drive)
		42	US 276 (Stone Avenue, Laurens Road) – Travelers Rest, Mauldin
North End of Freeway

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Interstate 385

v · d · eMajor Highways in Greenville County, SC
Interstates
	Interstate 85		Golden Strip Freeway		Southern Connector		Possible Alternative Route
Major U.S. Highways
	Augusta Road | White Horse Road | Poinsett Highway		Mills Avenue | Church Street | Wade Hampton Blouevard		Laurens Road | Stone Avenue | Poinsett Highway | Geer Highway		New Easley Highway | Easley Bridge Road | Academy Street
Major South Carolina State Highways
	Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway		Farrs Bridge Road | Cedar Lane Road		Pleasentburg Drive		Woodruff Road

v • d • e Auxiliary routes of Interstate 85 Georgia: 185 · 285 · 485 (former) · 985 — South Carolina: 185 · 385 · 585 — North Carolina: 285 (future) · 485 — North Carolina-Virginia: 785 (future)