U.S. Route 17 Alternate (US 17 Alt.) is a

alternate route An official alternate route is a special route in the United States that provides an alternate alignment for a highway. They are loop roads and found in many road systems in the United States including the U.S. Highway system and various state an ...

of US 17 in

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 = ...

that travels between

Pocotaligo Pocotaligo is an unincorporated community located in northeastern Jasper County, South Carolina, United States, close to the border of Beaufort County. The community takes its name from the Pocotaligo River, a small tidal creek that separates J ...

and Georgetown. It has been four-laned in various segments since 1970.

Route description

US 17 Alt starts at the northern terminus of the US 17- US 21 concurrency near Pocotaligo as a two-lane highway. It heads north along US 21 through Yemassee, where it passes over

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. ...

Charleston Subdivision The Charleston Subdivision is a railroad territory owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of South Carolina and Georgia. The line from Florence, South Carolina, to Savannah, Georgia, for a total of 195.8 miles. At its north end it contin ...

and then over SC 68. Due to the presence of a parallel railroad spur along the north side of SC 68, access to and from US ALT 17-21 is only available from bi-directional on-off ramps on the southwest and southeast corners of the bridge. The concurrency continues until US 21 splits off on its own to the northwest. From here it runs through Hendersonville, and then Walterboro, where it merges with SC 63, becomes the northern terminus of SC 303, and the southern terminus of

US 15 U.S. Route 15 (US 15) is a -long United States highway, designated along South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. The route is signed north–south, from U.S. Route 17 Alternate in Walterboro, South Car ...

. From that point, US 17 Alt moves away from I-95, running along the southeast side of

Lowcountry Regional Airport Lowcountry Regional Airport is a public use airport located two nautical miles (4 kilometre, km) northeast of the central business district of Walterboro, South Carolina, Walterboro, a city in Colleton County, South Carolina, United St ...

and moving further northeast. In Summerville, it intersects US 78, has an interchange with I-26, and intersects US 176. At

Moncks Corner Moncks Corner is a town in and the county seat of Berkeley County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 7,885 at the 2010 census. As defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, Moncks Corner is included within the Charleston-North Charleston-S ...

, it intersects US 52 and is briefly concurrent with that route as the two cross the Dennis C. Bishop Bridge over the Tail Race Canal of the Cooper River just below

Lake Moultrie Lake Moultrie is the third largest lake in South Carolina. Created in the 1940s by a state utility project to dam the Cooper River (South Carolina), Cooper River, it covers more than . It provides a wide variety of recreational opportunities, inc ...

. After crossing the W.H. Andrews Memorial Bridge over the Santee River, it joins another concurrency with US 521 in

Sampit Sampit is a city located in East Kotawaringin Regency, Central Kalimantan. Previously a timber port town, it has grown to be a medium-sized city with a population of 166,773 according to Statistics Indonesia in 2019, with the economy having since ...

, and both routes finally terminate at US 17, along with the southern terminus of US 701 in Georgetown.

History

US 17 Alt was established in 1951 as a renumbering of mainline US 17 from near

to Walterboro, SC 64 from Walterboro to

, SC 179 from Moncks Corner to Jamestown, and SC 528 north of Jamestown to

. US 17 Alt was also overlapped with US 52 in Moncks Corner, SC 41 around Jamestown, and US 521 between Sampit and Georgetown. The first section to be widened to four lanes was in 1970 from US 78 to I-26. This followed with four-lane sections in Georgetown (1974), its concurrency with US 52 in Moncks Corner (1975), and its concurrency with SC 64 in Walterboro (1979). Since the late 1990s, US 17 Alt has been widening slowly into four-lane from I-26 towards Moncks Corner. A second US 17 Alt did exist in South Carolina from 1955 to 1994, 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

Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains throug ...

. Today it is part of mainline US 17.

Major intersections

Summerville truck route

U.S. Route 17 Alternate Truck (US 17 Alt. Trk.) 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 ...

for US 17 Alt., mostly 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 ...

Summerville, South Carolina Summerville is a town in the U.S. state of South Carolina situated mostly in Dorchester County, with small portions in Berkeley and Charleston counties. It is part of the Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville Metropolitan Statistical Area. Su ...

. It serves portions of southeastern

Dorchester County Dorchester County is the name of two counties in the United States: * Dorchester County, Maryland Dorchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. At the 2020 census, the population was 32,531. Its county seat is Cambridge ...

and a very brief portion of southwestern Berkeley County. It is entirely

concurrent Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

with South Carolina Highway 642 (SC 642) and SC 165 for its entire length. US 17 Alt. Trk. 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 US 17 Alt. southwest of Summerville, in the southeastern part of Dorchester County. This intersection is also the western terminus of SC 642. US 17 Alt. Trk. and SC 642 travel on Dorchester Road nearly in a due east direction before curving to an east-southeast direction. In Limehouse Crossroads, they intersect SC 165 (Bacons Bridge Road). US 17 Alt. Trk. leaves SC 642 and turns left onto SC 165. The two highways travel to the north-northeast. Almost immediately, they cross over Dorchester Creek and the Sawmill Branch Trail and enter a southern part of Summerville. Just north of the intersection with the northern terminus of Jimbo Road, they leave the city limits. They intersect the western terminus of Mikel Drive and the eastern terminus of Edisto Drive, which leads to Flowertown Elementary and Newington Elementary schools. A short distance later, they re-enter Summerville. Almost immediately, they intersect the northern terminus of Trolley Road. Here, US 17 Alt. Trk. and SC 165, as well as the Bacons Bridge Road name, turn left. They proceed to the north-northwest. They cross over Sawmill Branch just before intersecting the southern terminus of both East Carolina Avenue and Berlin G. Myers Parkway. US 17 Alt. Trk. and SC 165 turns right onto the parkway and travel to the northeast. They pass Summerville Elementary School and Rollings Middle School of the Arts. They cross over East Richardson Avenue and 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, ...

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

on an unnamed bridge before intersecting East 3rd North Street at the Senator Randy Scott Intersection. This road leads to the Summerville Visitors Center. Almost immediately is an intersection with US 78 (East 5th North Street). US 17 Alt. Trk. and SC 165 continue to the northeast and enter the southwestern part of Berkeley County, before curving to the north-northwest. They intersect US 17 Alt. (North Main Street). Here, both US 17 Alt. Trk. and SC 165 reach their northern terminus, and the roadway continues as Berkeley County Circle to the north-northwest.

References

External links