Utility work slows Glenns Bay widening, project completion still on target for 2017

The completion date for construction at the Holmestown and Glenns Bay intersection on U.S. 17 Bypass is still on target for 2017, but work to relocate utility lines is behind schedule.

The utility work and delays due to weather have not affected the overall schedule, said Leah Quattlebaum, project manager for the South Carolina Department of Transportation.

“It can still be made up,” she said. “If not, the contractor must put in a request for an extension on the contract, and he has not done that.”

Drivers might have noticed that workers have been scarce on the Holmestown Road side of the intersection, but that doesn’t mean the project isn’t moving forward. Crews are letting the soil settle before moving to the next phase of construction on the bridge that will cross U.S. 17 Bypass.

The Glenns Bay widening and interchange is a three-year project with an estimated cost between $75 million and $80 million. It is funded by the penny sales tax that expired in 2015.

To ultimately ease future congestion, the construction project will create a five-lane highway from Glenns Bay to Spanish Oaks, narrow to four lanes to the entrance of Surfside Beach Club, then three lanes onto U.S. 17 Business.

Audrey Hudson 843-444-1765; Twitter @AudreyHudson

This story was originally published February 29, 2016 at 12:01 PM with the headline "Utility work slows Glenns Bay widening, project completion still on target for 2017."