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Our History

A timeline of notable events and milestones experienced in creating the Southern Connector

1967
Making the Connection

Greenville county planners decide a connector around the southern perimeter of Greenville County is needed.

1968
Extra Support

The Greenville Area Transportation Study supports the need and importance of a connector route in the southern corridor.

1988
Planning Ahead

The southern Greenville inter-connecting roadway is added to Greenville County’s 20-year development plan.

1990
A Highway In Need

A traditional South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) highway project still remained unfunded due to limited resources.

1991
Help From Congress

Congress helps the connector out with the appropriation of over $7 million for engineering, environmental, and right of way studies.

1993
Taking A Toll - Part 1

The transportation 2000 committee recommends that the Southern Connector be built as a toll road project.

1995
Finding The Link

The Greenville Area Transportation Group Study committee settles on the preferred route linking I-385 to I-85 in southern Greenville County. By July, groups started submitting bid proposals to the SCDOT for the planning, designing, financing and construction of the Southern Connector.

1996
ICTG Proposal Accepted

Interwest Carolina Transportation Group, LLC, teams consist of respected companies such as Interwest Management, Kutok Rock, Wilbur Smith Associates, Thrift Brothers, Florence & Hutchinson, Inc., Mesirow Financial, and Lehman Brothers.

1997
Breaking Legal Ground

State Supreme Court rules a referendum is not necessary to build. The decision stated that giving counties the power to approve or disapprove of state projects is unconstitutional. It also said Southern Connector did not violate any state laws because the state is not required to contribute tax dollars.

1998
Breaking Physical Ground

Construction begins on the Southern Connector in February of 1998.

2001
Taking A Toll - Part 2

On February 27th, 2001 the Southern Connector opened with a free trial period for motorists. On March 14th we began taking tolls and by July 9th the toll road accrued 1,000,000 transactions.

2003
10,000,000 Milestone

On October 2, 2003 – the Southern Connector Toll Road accrues 10 million transactions.

2006
25,000,000 Milestone

On September 15, 2006 – the Southern Connector Toll Road accrues 25 million transactions.

2011
50,000,000 Milestone

We proudly celebrated our 10-year anniversary by surpassing the 50 million transactions mark.

2012
New Transponder Tech

Next generation transponders are introduced. They are smaller, thinner, more accurate, and less obtrusive on windshields. 

2013
Next Exit: Hollywood

Cinemax's Banshee TV series filims an episode on location.

2015
Ride The Connector

Cycling event raises money for charity.

2016
75,000,000 Milestone

Once again, we proudly celebrated our anniversary of 15 years by surpassing 75 million transactions.

We're proud of our history but the future of the Southern Connector is equally bright! As Greenville resumes its fantastic development pace that was the hallmark of the prior decade, our transportation needs need to develop as well. The Connector is responding to that need with the implementation of an all-new, back-office system designed to make handling your account a breeze. In addition to speed and feature improvements, your account information and transactions on our Toll Road are now more secure than ever!