U.S. Route 221 in South Carolina

U.S. Highway 221
U.S. Highway 221
Route information
	Auxiliary route of US 21
	Maintained by SCDOT
Length	126 mi (203 km)
Existed	1932–present
Tourist; routes	Savannah River Scenic Byway
Major junctions
South end	US 221 / SR 150 at the Georgia line near Pollards Corner, GA
	I-385 near Watts Mills; I-26 near Moore; I-585 / US 176 / SC 9 in Spartanburg; I-85 near Spartanburg;
North end	US 221 at the North Carolina line near Chesnee
Location
Country	United States
State	South Carolina
Counties	McCormick, Greenwood, Laurens, Spartanburg, Cherokee
Highway system
	United States Numbered Highway System; List; Special; Divided; South Carolina State Highway System; Interstate; US; State; Scenic;

U.S. Route 221 (US 221) is a part of the United States Numbered Highway System that runs from Perry in northern Florida to Lynchburg in central Virginia. In South Carolina, the highway runs north to south from the Georgia state line near Clarks Hill to the North Carolina state line near Chesnee. While in the state, the highway passes through Greenwood, Laurens, Woodruff, and Spartanburg. The highway mostly travels through rural parts of the Piedmont region of the state.^[1]

Route description

US Route 221 enters McCormick County from Georgia from the top of the J. Strom Thurmond Dam at the southeastern edge of Lake Strom Thurmond. The first site in the state is the Thurmond Lake Overlook. Almost instantly curves to the north but then to the east before seeming to terminate at South Carolina State Highway 28 in Clarks Hill, South Carolina (which is part of the Savannah River Scenic Byway^[2]), but in reality turns left and joins the road in a concurrency. US 221/SC 28 runs north and northwesterly often being flanked by a railroad line along the east side as it passes through Modoc where it encounters the Hamilton Branch State Park and Recreation Area, and later Parksville which contains the Parksville State Recreation Area. The road widens to four lanes as it enters Plum Branch and after a road to the Plum Branch Yacht Club, has a blinker light intersection with the western terminus of South Carolina Highway 283 and a local road named Collier Street.

Shifting a bit further away from the coast it eventually enters the town of McCormick. From McCormick, it leaves SC 28, and briefly joins a concurrency with U.S. Route 378 until that route breaks away at East Gold Street. From there it continues northeasterly into the woods. After crossing the McCormick-Greenwood County Line, US 221 joins a concurrency with South Carolina Highway 10 south of Bradley. Along the way, US 221/SC 10 runs along the south side of the same railroad line it flanked the west side of since the SC 28 concurrency. After the intersection with Callison Road, and later two other local streets, SC 10 branches off to the northwest towards Verdery, and US 221 leaves the Sumter National Forest. Twelve miles later, it runs into the city of Greenwood. Along the way it is joined by another concurrency with U.S. Routes 25/178, and runs south and east along the edge of the city, then turns east onto South Carolina Highway 72.

From Greenwood, U.S. Route 221 continues northeasterly to the city of Coronaca and after crossing a bridge over the Saluda River the concurrency with SC 72 comes to an end. From there US 221 turns north and runs through Waterloo. U.S. Truck Route 221 bypasses the city of Laurens on the east side. After the truck route ends, it continues northeast and then northwest before the interchange with Interstate 385 in rural Laurens County. Returning more toward the northeast, it reaches Enoree and curves to the northwest until reaching Woodruff and curves back to the east-northeast proceeding to intersect Interstate 26 in rural Spartanburg County. Almost immediately after I-26, U.S. Route 221 turns north and continues through the center of the city of Spartanburg serving as the terminus of Interstate 585 before intersecting Interstate 85 just north of the city. Shortly after I-85 it crosses a bridge over the Pacolet River. It continues to the city of Chesnee before exiting the state in a rural area of Cherokee County. The southern terminus of US 221 Alt. intersects the main route in the city of Chesnee and exits the state a few miles to the east of the main route.

History

Established in 1932, US 221 was connected from North Carolina, from north of Cowpens National Battlefield to Greenwood, connecting the cities of Spartanburg, Woodruff, Laurens, and Waterloo. In 1941, US 221 replaced South Carolina Highway 110 (SC 110), going due north from Chesnee to the North Carolina state line; its former route became US 221 Alternate. In 1954, US 221 was extended south to Bradley and McCormick, then south over the Clarks Hill Dam into Georgia; this replaced part of SC 10 and part of SC 670.

Between 1962 and 1964, US 221 bypassed Roebuck. Between 1968 and 1970, US 221 was rerouted onto the Greenwood Bypass and its current routing south of US 25/US 178, replacing the remaining part of SC 670. The old route through Greenwood became SC 72 Business and an extension of SC 10.^[3]

Junction list

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Columbia				US 221 south / SR 150 south	Continuation into Georgia
Lake Strom Thurmond Savannah River		0.0	0.0	Georgia–South Carolina state line (J. Strom Thurmond Dam)
McCormick	Clarks Hill	1.8	2.9	SC 28 south	Southern end of SC 28 overlap
	Modoc	6.2	10.0	SC 23	Southern terminus of SC 23
	Plum Branch	15.6	25.1	SC 283	Northern terminus of SC 283
	McCormick	20.4	32.8	US 378 west (Gold Street) / SC 28 north (Mine Street)	Northern end of SC 28 overlap; southern end of US 378 overlap
	McCormick	21.0	33.8	US 378 (Gold Street E)	Northern end of US 378 overlap
Greenwood	Bradley	29.5	47.5	SC 10 (McCormick Highway)	Southern end of SC 10 overlap
	Bradley	31.8	51.2	SC 10 (McCormick Highway)	Northern end of SC 10 overlap
	Greenwood	40.2	64.7	SC 225
		41.1	66.1	US 25 / US 178 / US 25 Bus. / US 178 Bus. (Main Street S)	Southern end of US 25 / US 178 overlap; Southern end of US 25 / US 178 Business Routes
		42.5	68.4	SC 34 (Main Street W/Ninety Six Highway)
		45.9	73.9	US 25 / US 178 / SC 72 (Reynolds Avenue)	Northern end of US 25 / 178 overlap; southern end of SC 72 overlap
	Coronaca	50.8	81.8	SC 246
Laurens	Waterloo	54.2	87.2	SC 72	Northern end of SC 72 overlap
	Laurens	63.8	102.7	SC 39	Northern terminus of SC 39
		68.1	109.6	SC 127 / US 221 Truck (127 Bypass)	Southern terminus of SC 127/US Truck Route 221
		70.4	113.3	US 76 Bus. (Main Street E)
		70.9	114.1	US 76 / SC 127 / US 221 Truck (Hillcrest Drive/Fleming Street)	Northern terminus of SC 127/US Truck Route 221
		72.4	116.5	SC 49 (Yarborough Mill Road)	Southern terminus of SC 49
		74.6	120.1	I-385	I-385 exit 9.
	Ora	76.8	123.6	SC 308	Western terminus of SC 308
	Enoree	80.7	129.9	SC 92	Southern end of SC 92 overlap
Spartanburg	Enoree	82.2	132.3	SC 92 (Parker Road)	Northern end of SC 92 overlap
	Woodruff	89.3	143.7	SC 146 (Cross Anchor Road)	Southern end of SC 146 overlap
		89.8	144.5	SC 101 (Georgia Street)	Southern end of SC 101 overlap
		90.8	146.1	SC 101 / SC 146	Northern end of SC 146 / SC 101 overlap
	Moore	97.7	157.2	SC 290 (Moore Duncan Highway)	Eastern terminus of SC 290
	Roebuck	98.5	158.5	I-26	I-26 exit 28.
		101.0	162.5	SC 215 (Blackstock Road E/Stone Station Road)
		103.7	166.9	SC 295 (Southport Road)
	Spartanburg	106.8	171.9	SC 56 (Henry Street)	Southern end of SC 56 overlap
		107.2	172.5	US 29 (St John Street)
		107.4	172.8	SC 296 (Daniel Morgan Avenue E)
		108.1	174.0	SC 56 (Asheville Highway)	Northern end of SC 56 overlap
		108.9	175.3	I-585 / US 176 / SC 9 (Pine Street N)	I-585 exit 25B.
		113.0	181.9	I-85	I-85 exit 78.
	Chesnee	123.0	197.9	US 221 Alt. / SC 11 (Cherokee Street/Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway)	Northern terminus of US 221 Alt
Cherokee	Chesnee	125.9	202.6	US 221 north	Continuation into North Carolina
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus