Around 3 PM today, we finally arrived home here at GRG HQ.

On the way back through South Carolina, I traveled I-26 all the way to the I-20 interchange (Exit 107) in Columbia and I-20 from I-26 (Exit 64) to home. In the process, I "clinched" all of I-20 in Georgia.

County-wise, I "clinched" South Carolina Dorchester, Calhoun, Lexington, Richland, and Aiken Counties. That makes 17 out of 46 South Carolina counties I have "clinched" so far.

Near North Augusta, the new construction of the I-520 (Bobby Jones Expressway/Palmetto Parkway) extension at Exit 5 in South Carolina looks like it's coming along very well. There are new "flyover" bridges built and some initial pavement laid down. Once it has been completed, my intent will be to go back and "clinch" all of I-520 (giving me the last stretch of Georgia Interstate I need) plus "clinch" all of I-520 in South Carolina.

BTW, if you look on the 2009 official South Carolina highway map at the North Augusta/Aiken section, you will notice that it is shown as SC 520 instead of I-520 and it is not shown as a limited-access highway. Furthermore, it does not show any dashed lines for the South Carolina section under construction between US 1/78/278 and I-20. Please see for yourself...


Admittedly, I have not traveled this new section of I-520 yet, but AARoads's Alex Nitzman has done so and here is his photographic evidence of I-520 being signed as such in the brief section completed between the Georgia state line and US 1/78/278.

As I crossed into Georgia on I-20, I immediately hit all the widening construction and I-20/I-520/GA 232 (Bobby Jones Expressway) interchange reconstruction. The progress on the interchange reconstruction seems to be moving along, as I noticed the new "flyover" that will carry I-20 westbound travelers to I-520 eastbound. The at-grade intersection just north of the interchange on GA 232 has been upgraded to an interchange and it looks like there will be "collector-distributor" lanes to keep traffic coming into I-20 from I-520 and GA 232 from interfering with mainline I-20 traffic.

One thing, however, that is quite annoying is the "STOP" signs that have been placed on I-20 entrance ramps between the Bobby Jones Expressway and the South Carolina line. As I pulled out of the Georgia welcome center, there was traffic whizzing by me as I was forced by this temporary setup to essentially turn right onto the I-20 travel lanes instead of merging. It wouldn't surprise me if there has been (or will be) any major accidents that result from this setup. I know that this is a temporary thing since the interchanges are being reconstructed, but still, couldn't've the contractor done something a little different to allow a little smoother flow of merging traffic?!!! If you've traveled this particular section of I-20 in recent times, then please feel free to share your experiences via the blog comments.

As we traveled through Conyers, the 2 left lanes on I-20 westbound from GA 20/138 (Exit 82) through US 278 West/GA 124 North (Exit 75) were being torn up and repaved, causing traffic to "bottleneck" all the way to GA 162 (Exit 84). Once we got past it, though, it was "smooth sailing" all the way back to GRG HQ.

That's it for now. Thanks for reading and please visit often.

 

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