Drivers face 14-mile detour on SC-183

PICKENS COUNTY – Local commuters are in for a long haul as construction begins on Highway 183 and is expected to last more than a year.

Two bridges on Highway 183 are being replaced by the South Carolina Dept. of Transportation. They include one over Twelve-Mile Creek near the Pickens Flea Market (Jockey Lot), and another over Gregory Creek near Riggins Road.

The proposed detour is more than 14 miles long.

According to SCDOT plans, the detour begins near the end of West Main Street in Pickens and goes by the Reserve at Lake Keowee, then back down near Durham’s Convenient Mart by Crowe Creek Road.

It will more than double drivers’ commutes if they use the entire detour.

County officials said Hollingsworth Drive, Allgood Farm Road and Stephens Road may experience increased traffic due to the detour.

Pickens County Roads and Bridges Department said they will be monitoring the impact to county-maintained roads. The county has encouraged residents to report maintenance issues on a county road or view status updates by visiting www.FixingCountyRoads.com.

“One of the goals of our ten year plan is to eliminate closed and road restricted bridges in the state,” Hannah Robinson, a SCDOT spokesperson, said.

SCDOT said the bridge replacement projects are due to load restrictions on the two bridges. They said they are working to eliminate all closed and load restricted bridges in South Carolina in the next ten years.

Officials said that after the new bridges are constructed, traffic should flow better for school buses, large trucks and emergency service vehicles.

Vehicles that may exceed the weight limit will safely be able to travel along part of Highway 183.

“The project actually started in Summer of 2022,” Robinson said. “That was kind of when the design and our engineering team were designing what this process was going to look like and what kind of repairs were going to be made. That is when they made the decision that these two bridges would be replaced.”

Robinson said the two bridges will be torn down and fully replaced.

“The bridges that we build where those bridges are now will be our current design standards and they wont have to be closed or load restricted at any point,” Robinson said.

Pickens County Emergency Services has been in contact with SCDOT to minimize impact to emergency response times with the detour. Road closures will be added to the county’s Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system which will allow communication personnel to dispatch the closest units and provide detour information, they said.

SCDOT said the construction is expected to last about 15 months. Robinson said drivers will still be able to access portions of SC 183 near the bridges.

For more information about this project, road closures, or the detour, contact the SCDOT District 3 Office at 864-241-1010.