South Carolina Highway 20 (SC 20) is a primary

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in the U.S. state of

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. The highway connects the cities of

Abbeville Abbeville (, vls, Abbekerke, pcd, Advile) is a commune in the Somme department and in Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is the chef-lieu of one of the arrondissements of Somme. Located on the river Somme, it was the capital of ...

, Belton, Williamston and Greenville. The highway is signed as a west-east highway though it physically runs south-to-north.

Route description

History

Established in 1922 as an original state highway, it traversed from the

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

state line to SC 8 (Guess Street/Green Avenue) in Greenville; connecting McCormick, Abbeville, Due West, Honea Path, Belton, and Williamston. Between 1924-1925, SC 20 was extended north, along Green Avenue, to SC 2/SC 8 (Pendleton Street), replacing a section of SC 8; this would be the longest distance SC 20 ever traveled, reaching over in length. In 1935, SC 20 was truncated at

U.S. Route 29 U.S. Route 29 (US 29) is a north–south United States highway that runs for from Pensacola, Florida to the western suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland in the Southern United States, connecting the Florida Panhandle to the Baltimore-Washington me ...

(US 29, Anderson Highway) in Williamston; its old alignment becoming US 29. In 1936, all of SC 20 was fully paved. Around 1937, SC 20 was truncated to its current western terminus in Abbeville, its alignment to the state line replaced by SC 28. In 1956, SC 20 was rerouted between Due West and Belton, replacing SC 257 and some of SC 284; its old alignment, through Honea Path, was replaced by SC 184 and US 178. Also same year, SC 20 was extended back along its old alignment north to a rerouted US 29, just south of Greenville. In 1962, SC 20 was extended into downtown Greenville, along Grove Avenue, ending at US 25 (Augusta Road), replacing US 29 Business (US 29 Bus.). In 2000, SC 20 was extended to its current northern terminus at Falls Park Drive (formerly Camperdown Way) just shy of US 123, replacing part of US 25 Bus.

Major intersections

Special routes

Abbeville truck route

South Carolina Highway 20 Truck (SC 20 Truck) is a

truck route A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...

that has approximately half its path within the

city limits City limits or city boundaries refer to the defined boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limit can be called the city proper. Town limit/boundary and village limit/boundary apply to towns and villages. Similarly, corporate limi ...

. It has concurrencies with SC 71 Truck and SC 28. It begins at an

intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their i ...

with the southern terminus of SC 203 Truck (South Main Street) in the south-central part of Abbeville, which is in the southeastern part of

Abbeville County Abbeville County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 24,295. Its county seat is Abbeville. It is the first county (or county equivalent) in the United States alphabetically. Abbevi ...

. This is also the southern terminus of SC 71 Truck. SC 20 Truck and SC 71 Truck begin concurrent with SC 72. The three highways travel to the west-southwest. Immediately, they curve to the southwest and travel under a railroad bridge that carries some

railroad tracks A railway track (British English and UIC terminology) or railroad track (American English), also known as permanent way or simply track, is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties (sleepers, ...

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

. They cross over Blue Hill Creek and curve to the south-southwest. They pass the Abbeville Area Medical Center and curve back to the southwest, before leaving the city limits of Abbeville. They pass

Piedmont Technical College Piedmont Technical College is a public community college with its main campus in Greenwood, South Carolina. It serves seven counties in the Lakelands region of South Carolina. Six additional County Centers also serve students in Abbeville Coun ...

's Abbeville County Campus before intersecting SC 28. Here, the truck routes turn right, off of SC 72 and onto SC 28. The three highways travel to the northwest and then pass Westwood Elementary School. They travel through

rural area In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...

s of the county, passing a

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

Service Center, the Pete Smith Sports Complex, and the Abbeville County Industrial Park. They cross over the aforementioned CSX rail line for a second time. They have an intersection with the eastern terminus of Old Calhoun Falls Road and the western terminus of Haigler Street, the former of which leads to the Abbeville County Law Enforcement Center, the Sheriff's and magistrates's offices, and detention center. They curve to the north-northeast and then intersect SC 71, where SC 71 Truck ends. SC 20 Truck and SC 28 curve to the northeast and intersect the northern terminus of SC 28 Conn. (North Main Street) and the western terminus of SC 20 Conn. (Hill Road). Here, SC 20 Truck ends, and SC 28 turns left, to the north-northwest.

Abbeville connector

South Carolina Highway 20 Connector (SC 20 Conn.) is a connector route, partially in the northwestern part of

. It connects SC 28 and SC 28 Conn. with SC 20. The highway is

unsigned Unsigned can refer to: * An unsigned artist is a musical artist or group not attached or signed to a record label ** Unsigned Music Awards, ceremony noting achievements of unsigned artists ** Unsigned band web, online community * Similarly, the c ...

for its entire length.

Craytonville connector

South Carolina Highway 20 Connector (SC 20 Conn) is a

connector route A connector is a highway or freeway road that connects to another highway or freeway. It can be part of an interchange such as the MacArthur Maze or a longer roadway such as the Interstate 635. A connector route is a type of special route or su ...

and is also known as Clinkscales Road. It connects SC 20 with SC 252 in Craytonville as the SC 20 mainline crosses over SC 252 on an

overpass An overpass (called an overbridge or flyover in the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth countries) is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that crosses over another road or railway. An ''overpass'' and ''underpass'' together form ...

without a direct interchange. The connector route is signed.

References

External links

* {{commons category-inline, South Carolina Highway 20
SC 20 at Virginia Highways' South Carolina Highways Annex
020 Transportation in Abbeville County, South Carolina Transportation in Anderson County, South Carolina Transportation in Greenville County, South Carolina