I-95 moving slowly near SC-Georgia border — but could get worse in the next few hours

This story has been updated at islandpacket.com.

As temperatures dropped Thursday evening, Interstate 95 remained unsafe for travel and authorities worried of conditions worsening.

Multiple state agencies, including the South Carolina Department of Transportation were discouraging motorists from venturing out because of concerns that ice that melted earlier Thursday would refreeze and make the road more hazardous.

Lance Cpl. Matthew Southern of the South Carolina Highway Patrol had similar concerns.

“We’ve had a little bit of melt(ing) because it’s been above freezing,” Southern said Thursday afternoon. “But our biggest concern is that’s going to freeze over again.”

However, at 8:30 p.m. Southern said traffic was flowing in northbound and southbound lanes, and there were no current incidents affecting traffic.

An afternoon update from the SCDOT said crews were focusing on “maintaining” the roadway, and crews from other districts had been reassigned to help with snow removal in coastal areas.

Kevin Turner, a spokesman for the SCDOT said all backups Thursday afternoon were because of congestion. Trucks that had pulled off to the side of the road and were trying to get back on where making the traffic situation worse, he said.

At 6 p.m. Thursday evening, Turner said there is one major problem area on I-95 northbound near Ridgeland and mile maker 21 that has caused congestion to the Georgia State Line.

The area is low lying and has had problems with freezing throughout the day, Turner said. It has been treated several times with salt, but tractor-trailers have still had problems moving through the area, causing some to pull off into the shoulders.

Traffic was moving, but slowly, Turner said. He estimated vehicles were going about 25 to 30 miles per hour in the 21-mile stretch of road.

SCDOT tweeted in addition to ice concerns, drivers should watch for slow moving equipment applying deicing materials.

S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster approved the activation of 20 S.C. National Guard troops — two vehicle recovery teams — to “augment the South Carolina Highway Patrol’s and South Carolina Department of Transportation's existing efforts along the Interstate 95 corridor,” according to a statement from the governor’s office.

Turner said the SC National Guard was out with its vehicle recovery team assisting with removing vehicles stuck on the side of the road.

Collisions and disabled vehicles — some of which blocked all lanes at some points — were reported throughout the day.

Early Thursday afternoon, parts of a nearly 80-mile portion of the interstate were “impassable,” according to officials, who said drivers would have to use different routes.

Illinois truck drivers Lynnette Hamill and Todd Giroux were near mile marker 19 heading north doing about 45 mph around 2 p.m., according to Giroux. Not even an hour earlier they were stuck at marker 11, having moved just one mile in two hours.

Hamill and Giroux, splitting up the driving and hauling Amazon goods, said they were in standstill traffic at Mile Marker No. 9 heading northbound around 9:45 a.m. Thursday. At 11:15 a.m., an hour and a half later, they had moved just one mile, Hamill said via text message.

It had taken them almost three hours to drive about 10 miles Thursday morning, Hamill said.

Patrick Boyle, a truck driver hauling steel who lives in Rincon, Ga., said he finally gave up and pulled off I-95 at Exit 8 around 2 a.m. Thursday. It had taken him more than five hours to get there from Exit 33, about 25 miles north.

He slept in his truck Wednesday night, and he said a lot of other truckers did, too.

Collisions and disabled vehicles — some of which blocked all lanes at some points — have been reported throughout the day.

Southern advised that motorists in need of assistance can reach the Highway Patrol by dialing *47. If you have to travel, Southern advised that you decrease your speed and increase your following distance.

Accidents on I-95 snarled traffic for hours Wednesday.

Leaving Bluffton around 1 p.m. Wednesday, 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-trailer accidents 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 4, 2018 at 8:41 AM with the headline "I-95 moving slowly near SC-Georgia border — but could get worse in the next few hours."