Detour lifted, smoother ride from Gaston into Lake Wylie

Those traveling from southeastern Gaston County into Lake Wylie, South Carolina, should now see a much-smoother and quicker ride.

The 2.5-mile detour on Pole Branch Road that had been in place since Nov. 12, 2019, was lifted at the end of September, clearing the way for those traveling in and out of Gaston County.

“You can travel all the way through now,” said Patrick Hamilton, assistant county engineer of transportation for York County. “I rode it a couple weeks ago and it’s much, much better.”

The first projections called for the detour to last until mid-May, but that date was pushed back due to wet weather and construction delays brought on by sub-contractors dealing with the coronavirus Covid-19 and a worker shortage, Hamilton said.

“It drug out longer than we were hoping for,” he said. “It was kind of a domino effect, but it’s all finished now.”

Work still remains on the $30 million project. The project was funded through York County’s Pennies for Progress program. It uses a special 1-cent sales tax to raise money for road improvement needs that the state isn’t getting to quickly enough. Every few years, county voters are asked to approve a batch of road upgrades that will be footed with the sales tax revenue. The Lake Wylie project was approved in 2011.

Blythe Development began work in May 2018 to improve 3.8 miles of blacktop and bridges south of the North Carolina state line. On Pole Branch Road, the two current lanes are being widened to include a third center turn lane, from the bridge at the lake to the Y-intersection where Pole Branch intersects with S.C. 274 at All Saints Catholic Church.

From that point south to the Wal-Mart shopping center, on the span that runs near Moss Creek, the highway is being widened to five lanes. Sidewalks will be built on both sides of the road through the entire project area.

Hamilton said that the new bridge that spans Moss Creek has been completed and traffic was shifted onto that bridge at the end of September. Work is now beginning on dismantling the existing bridge. Eventually, there will be a five-lane bridge on that section of S.C. 274.

Hamilton said widening work continues on Pole Branch Road, as well as work on a bridge on that section of road, but he doesn’t anticipate any more detours.

“They’ll be able to shift traffic without closing the road,” said Hamilton, who anticipates the entire project being completed by the end of 2021.

Pole Branch Road was built as a two-lane road and as more and more homes were built in the area and more and more traffic traveled the road, it began to fall apart as there were numerous potholes on the curvy, hilly road.

“It had just gotten beat up over the years,” Hamilton said. “There were also some really bad sight distance issues. I’d say it was almost like a roller coaster, there were a lot of ups and downs.

“We’ve gone in and cut down some of the high spots and raised some of the low spots and tried to smooth it out a little more than what it was before.”

An average of 9,200 vehicles travel Pole Branch Road every day, according to data from the South Carolina Department of Transportation. Just south of the construction area, statistics show that the local roads accommodate more than 20,000 vehicles per day.

You can reach Michael Banks at 704-869-1842, email mbanks@gastongazette.com and follow on Twitter @MichaelBanksNC.