| US 17 | |||
| Get started | Savannah | ||
| End | Little River | ||
| Length | 221 mi | ||
| Length | 356 km | ||
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US 17 is a US Highway in the US state of South Carolina. The road forms a north-south route along the Atlantic coast, from the Georgia border through Charleston and Myrtle Beach to the North Carolina border. US 17 is 356 kilometers long in South Carolina.
- SEARCHFORPUBLICSCHOOLS: Provides a list of all public primary and high schools in South Carolina, including street address, contact phone, and zip code for each school.
Travel directions
US 17 at Charleston.
US 17
US 17 runs along the coast of South Carolina. The Talmadge Bridge crosses the Savannah River, also the border with the state of Georgia, although the state line is not on the bridge but on the north bank of the river. US 17 is initially a single lane through a low-lying swamp area, but then becomes a 2×2 divided highway until it connects with Interstate 95. US 17 then runs parallel to I-95 through densely wooded areas and through small towns such as Hardeeville and Ridgeland.
At Yemassee, US 17 exits the I-95 corridor and heads east as a 2×2 divided highway to Charleston. The first part around Sheldon is double-numbered with US 21, after which US 17 leads east through sparsely populated and densely wooded area, towards the coast. After approximately 80 kilometers you reach the city of Charleston, the largest city on the route of US 17 in South Carolina. The road becomes a major urban arterial, crossing the Ashley River via two bascule bridges to enter downtown Charleston.
US 17 reaches the southern terminus of Interstate 26 and then becomes a freeway itself and crosses over Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge the Cooper River to the large suburb of Mount Pleasant. The highway section only includes the bridge, in Mount Pleasant US 17 is a busy corridor with 2×3 lanes, service roads and traffic lights. Interstate 526 forms a bypass of Charleston that begins and ends on US 17.
After Mount Pleasant, the buildings thin out and eventually US 17 leads through densely forested coastal plains again. There is an 80 kilometer stretch through the woods to Georgetown. This area is hardly developed. The US 17 Alternate also reconnects in Georgetown. US 17 then crosses the Waccamaw River and passes the Grand Strand region, a coastal region with long sandy beaches. This region is largely urbanized, with the city of Myrtle Beach as the central city. The US 17 here is a busy road with 2×2 to 2×3 lanes. After North Myrtle Beach the buildings thin out, the US 17 remains a 2×2 divided highway until the border with North Carolina. US 17 in North Carolina then continues to Wilmington.
- USPRIVATESCHOOLSFINDER.COM: Provides a list of all private primary and elementary schools in South Carolina, including street address, contact phone, and zip code for each school.
US 17 Alternate
The US 17 Alternate
US 17 Alternate forms a 199-mile regional bypass of Charleston. US 17 Alternate begins at Yemassee on US 21 and ends at Georgetown on US 17. US 17 Alternate passes through Walterboro and Summerville, most of the route passes through sparsely populated and densely wooded countryside, but US 17 also passes through the most inland suburbs of Charleston, namely Summerville and Sangaree. This part is a busy road with 5 lanes and a center turn lane. Elsewhere, US 17 Alternate is an easier two-lane road. The easternmost part up to Georgetown is double-numbered with US 521 and is a 2×2 divided highway.
History
US 17 was one of the original US Highways of 1926 and has always passed through South Carolina. Several alternate routes of US 17 have existed, in 1955 a US 17 Alternate was created between Savannah, Georgia and Limehouse, South Carolina. This was primarily a crossing of the Savannah River. In 1995 this US 17 Alternate was scrapped.
Widening Savannah – Charleston
US 17 has been gradually widened to 2×2 lanes between I-95 and Charleston. As early as the 1950s, the first 2×2 section opened as a westbound approach road from Charleston. In the mid-1970s, a 50-kilometer stretch between Jacksonboro and Charleston had already been widened to 2×2 lanes. In the early 1970s, a short section between the Georgia border and I-95 north of Savannah was widened to 2×2 lanes. Further upgrades west of Charleston were not made until after 2000, with the section between I-95 and US 21 at Gardens Corner being widened to 2×2 lanes in the early 2000s. As of 2010, the remaining 25 miles between US 21 at Gardens Corner and Jacksonboro has been widened to 2×2 lanes. On November 8, 2013, the last 2×2 divided highway. openedsegment. Between 2021 and 2025, the southernmost section between the Georgia and Limehouse borders was widened to 2×2 lanes, with a second bridge spanning the Back River on the Georgia border.
Charleston
The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge in Charleston, one of the icons of the southeastern United States.
On July 16, 2005, the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Charleston Bridge. _ This is the only stretch of US 17 that is a freeway, and is equipped with 2×4 lanes. It is one of the most impressive cable- stayed bridges in the United States. This bridge replaced a bridge built in 1929. The bridge has fictitious competition with the Talmadge Memorial Bridge in Savannah, which US 17 also crosses, about 75 miles south. On December 10, 2012, a grade-separated intersection opened at Bowman Street in Mount Pleasant, near Interstate 526.
Widening Charleston – Myrtle Beach
As early as the 1950s, the first section of US 17 through Myrtle Beach was widened to 2×2 lanes to accommodate the growth of tourism in the Grand Strand region. By the mid-1960s, a 90-mile stretch from Georgetown near the North Carolina border had been widened to 4 lanes. This was the first long stretch of 2×2 lane US Highway in the state of South Carolina. In the early 1970s, Charleston’s east approach road and Georgetown south approach road were also widened to 2×2 lanes, but they lacked a 70-kilometer stretch that runs through sparsely populated areas. This section was widened to 2×2 lanes later in the 1970s and early to mid 1980s. With this, the entire route from Charleston to the North Carolina border had 2×2 lanes.
US 17 Alternate
More important was the US 17 Alternate between Pocotaalo and Georgetown, this is a 199-mile bypass of the Charleston region. Where US 17 itself runs through the city of Charleston, US 17 Alternate forms a regional route further inland, through the outer suburbs of Charleston, through Summerville and Sangaree. This route was added to the network in 1951.
The US 17 Alternate has not been significantly upgraded. The more urban passage through the suburbs of Charleston has been widened to a 5-lane road with center turn lane and the double numbering with US 521 between Sampit and Georgetown was probably widened to 2×2 lanes in the early 1990s. However, US 17 Alternate has largely remained a simple two-lane road through the woods.
