Interstate 20 (I-20) is the main east–west

Interstate Highway The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...

in the state of

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, linking the state with important transportation and business hubs to the north, west, and south, including

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;

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

(via I-77);

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

(via

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

); and

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(via I-95). I-20 travels west to east, from the

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

state line at North Augusta, through Columbia, to end at I-95 in Florence. Past I-95, the roadway continues as Interstate 20 Business (I-20 Bus.) for about to U.S. Route 76 (US 76), which goes to downtown Florence. The Interstate parallels US 1 closely from the state line to Camden where US 1 diverts away from the route and head northeast towards

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

while I-20 turns and heads eastward towards Florence.

Route description

I-20 enters the Palmetto State after crossing the

Savannah River The Savannah River is a major river in the Southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and South Carolina. The river flows from the Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, ...

from

Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

. Known as the J. Strom Thurmond Freeway (named for the US senator), the highway heads northeastward, bypassing Aiken and Lexington before reaching the state capital of Columbia. It was constructed in various stages beginning in late 1963, with the final section between South Carolina Highway 340 (SC 340) and I-20 Bus. opening in August 1975. At Columbia, I-20 crosses the Saluda and Broad rivers and travels through the northern part of the city and turns eastward, bypassing Fort Jackson and Camden before reaching

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. It is at Florence where I-20 sees its eastern terminus at

. However, for about , the roadway continues to downtown Florence as I-20 Bus.

Services

The

South Carolina Department of Transportation The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) is a government agency in the US state of South Carolina. Its mission is to build and maintain roads and bridges and administer mass transit services. By state law, the SCDOT's function an ...

(SCDOT) operates and maintains one welcome center and two rest areas along I-20. The welcome center, which has a travel information facility on site, is located in North Augusta at milemarker 0.5 (eastbound), and the rest areas are located in Lugoff at milemarker 99 (east and westbound) between exit 92 ( U.S. Route 601 S 601and SC 12) and the bridges over the Wateree River. Common at all locations are public restrooms, public telephones, vending machines, picnic area, and barbecue grills. A pair of closed rest areas exist between exits 44 and 51. The South Carolina Department of Public Safety and State Transport Police operate and maintain two truck inspection/weigh stations. The eastbound truck weigh station can be found in Jones Crossroads at milemarker 35, and the westbound weigh station can be found in Lexington at milemarker 53.5.

History

I-20 first appeared between 1964 and 1967; its first section was completed from SC 6, south of Lexington, to Spears Creek Church Road (S-40-53), south of Pontiac. A second section, from the

state line to US 25/ SC 121, was completed in 1967. In 1968 or 1969, I-20 was extended east from Spears Creek Church Road (S-40-53) to US 601/ SC 12, south of Camden. In 1971, I-20 combined the two segments by completing the gap between US 25/SC 121 to SC 6. In 1973, I-20 was extended east to US 521. In 1974, it extended east again to US 15. In 1975, another extension east to US 401. And finally, in 1976, I-20 reached its destination with

and the city of

. Also in the same year, exit numbers were installed. In the late 1980s, I-20 was widened to six lanes between US 378 and I-77.

Proposed extensions

The first proposal to extend I-20 was at the time of its designation in the state, and consisted of plans to extend it east from Florence to

Myrtle Beach Myrtle Beach is a resort city on the East Coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is located in the center of a long and continuous stretch of beach known as the " Grand Strand” in the northeastern part of the state. It ...

. However, because Myrtle Beach was not yet the tourist destination it later became, the state eventually widened US 76 and US 501 and established SC 576, connecting the two U.S. Routes in the 1970s. In 2003, North Carolina Governor

Mike Easley Michael Francis Easley (born March 23, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the List of Governors of North Carolina, 72nd governor of North Carolina from 2001 to 2009. He is the first governor of North Carolina to have been ...

pushed forward a proposal to extend I-20 eastward from Florence to Wilmington, which became part of the

North Carolina Department of Transportation The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is responsible for building, repairing, and operating highways, bridges, and other modes of transportation, including ferries in the U.S. state of North Carolina. History The North Carolina ...

's strategic transportation plan. The proposed routing would overlap I-20 along I-95 to the

I-74 Interstate 74 (I-74) is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Its western end is at an interchange with I-80 in Davenport, Iowa; the eastern end of its Midwest segment is at an interchange with I-75 ...

/ US 74 interchange, then travel east (concurrently with US 74) into Wilmington. In 2005, this proposal became part of the SAFETEA-LU transportation legislation, and North Carolina received $5 million for a feasibility study for this extension. If built, I-20 will have a concurrency with I-95 about through Florence, meet I-73 near Marion, have concurrency with a I-74 about from Whiteville to east of its future interchange with North Carolina Highway 211 (NC 211), and have future interchanges with I-140/ US 17/US 74 east/ US 421/ NC 133 in Wilmington where I-20 will terminate at bridge crossing over the

Cape Fear River The Cape Fear River is a blackwater river in east-central North Carolina. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Fear, from which it takes its name. The river is formed at the confluence of the Haw River and the Deep River in the town of ...

where US 17/US 76/US 421/NC 133 crosses into downtown. However, it will not have a direct interchange with I-40 in Wilmington for this extension. While this extension has considerable support among towns in southeastern North Carolina, the

has stated that they have no interest in upgrading their portion of US 76 to an Interstate. Instead, South Carolina is focusing on plans to build I-73 that will terminate near

. While the extension had support in North Carolina, with justification that a direct route from

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to the Port of Wilmington could be a boom to the economy, this view was not shared by officials in South Carolina. In 2009, soon after Governor Mike Easley left office, the proposed routing was removed from all NCDOT plans and was officially dropped. The proposal was never officially discussed with SCDOT nor submitted to the

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway A highway is any public or private road ...

and the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

(FHWA) for consideration.

Future

I-26/I-126 interchange

SCDOT, in cooperation with the FHWA, is proposing improvements to a corridor along I-20, I-26, and I-126, including the system interchanges at I-20/I-26 and I-26/I-126 in Lexington and Richland counties. These improvements are proposed to increase mobility and enhance traffic operations by reducing existing traffic congestion within the corridor, while accommodating future traffic needs. The corridor's approximately of mainline Interstate include I-26 from exit 101 (Broad River Road, US 176) to east of the Saluda River, I-20 from the west of the Saluda River to west of the Broad River, and I-126 from I-26 to east of the interchange with Colonial Life Boulevard.

Widening projects

This project represents the first bistate agreement between the

Georgia Department of Transportation The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is the organization in charge of developing and maintaining all state and federal roadways in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. In addition to highways, the department also has a li ...

and SCDOT for a design–build project. This design–build project is for the widening of I-20 with an additional lane in each direction. The widening begins just west of Georgia State Route 104 (SR 104) interchange (I-20 GA exit 200) and it will terminate at SC 230 interchange (I-20 SC exit 1). The project will widen of I-20, replace four bridges over the Augusta Canal and Savannah River, and make intersection improvements at the West Martintown Road interchange in South Carolina. This project will cost $72 million and is scheduled to be completed in 2022. Another design–build project is for the widening of I-20 with an additional lane in each direction. The widening will begin just east of US 378 where the roadway transitions from a six lane section to a four lane section and terminate west of the Longs Pond Road interchange near milemarker 49 in Lexington County. The I-20 eastbound and westbound bridges over Norfolk Southern Railroad will be replaced. The pavement for the project will consist of both concrete and asphalt and the existing concrete pavement section will require reconstruction. The widening has since been completed as of June 2022.

Exit list

Related routes

I-20 has one

business route A business route (or business loop, business spur, or city route) in the United States is a short special route that branches off a parent numbered highway at its beginning, continues through the central business district of a nearby city or to ...

and one

auxiliary route In road transportation in the United States, a special route is a road in a numbered highway system that diverts a specific segment of related traffic away from another road. They are featured in many highway systems; most are found in the In ...

in the state of South Carolina. I-520 serves as a multi-state

beltway A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducin ...

that runs between North Augusta and

Interstate 20 Business

Interstate 20 Business (I-20 Bus) is a four-lane

boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway or wide road in a commercial district. In Europe, boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former ...

-grade business spur of I-20 along David H. McLeod Boulevard, between

and US 76 (West Palmetto Street). SCDOT marks an intersection of West Evans Street as its east end where the roadway continues as US 76 Connector. However, signage of I-20 Bus. appears past West Evans Street indicating the route continues to its official eastern terminus at an intersection of US 76. SCDOT signs the eastern extension of I-20 Bus. from West Evans Street to US 76 as US 76 Connector which is unsigned in its entire length. Construction began by 1969, completed in 1970, it has remained unchanged since inception.

References

External links

*
Mapmikey's South Carolina Highways Page: I-20
{{DEFAULTSORT:I20 in South Carolina 20 South Carolina Transportation in Aiken County, South Carolina Transportation in Lexington County, South Carolina Transportation in Richland County, South Carolina Transportation in Kershaw County, South Carolina Transportation in Lee County, South Carolina Transportation in Darlington County, South Carolina Transportation in Florence County, South Carolina