‘8 miles in 6.5 hours:’ Nightmare traffic reported near SC-Georgia border
This story has been updated at islandpacket.com.
Slippery, snowy, icy conditions have snarled traffic along I-95, leading to some drivers stuck for hours along the stretch of highway connecting South Carolina to Georgia.
The issue seems to stem from the elevated bridge that crosses the state lines, according to Lance Cpl. Matt Southern of the S.C. Highway Patrol.
“What the issue is, when you start to cross into Georgia, tractor-trailers are having an extremely tough time getting up and over the bridge,” Southern said.
Troopers are encouraging drivers to avoid the interstate from the Georgia state line to mile marker 74.
Between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m., 10 incidents were reported along I-95 in Jasper County, with the majority occurring after 4 p.m., according to S.C. Highway Patrol.
Around 7 p.m all lanes of I-95 south were blocked two miles north of the Georgia state line because of a disabled vehicle, according to the S.C. Department of Transportation’s 511 website.
The right lane of I-95 south is blocked four miles north of Exit 8 onto U.S. 278-Hilton Head Island because of a disabled vehicle, according to SCDOT.
Both incidents were ongoing as of 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Leaving Bluffton around 1 p.m., a reporter with The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette said she had not made it to Savannah as of 8 p.m. She confirmed two tractor-trailers southbound and one northbound. An editor for the newspapers reported a commute of more than four hours from Bluffton to Savannah.
This story was originally published January 3, 2018 at 9:12 PM with the headline "‘8 miles in 6.5 hours:’ Nightmare traffic reported near SC-Georgia border."