By Mike Dalwin
NOTE: This is an opinion piece reflecting the author’s personal observations and experiences. The views expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of this publication.
I was running a quick errand the other day and found myself crawling along near the I-95 and SC-327 area, watching brake lights stack up ahead of me. It’s not even a holiday weekend, just a regular afternoon, and there I was, wondering how long this stretch has been turning into its own little parking lot. You used to be able to get in and out of those exits without building in extra time like it was a trip to Columbia.
I’ve called Florence home my whole life. Back when the interstates were still settling into the landscape and the big draws were fewer and farther between, traffic here had a different rhythm. You knew the morning push and the evening wind-down, but most days you could make it across town or out to the edges without much drama. The roads felt like they had room to breathe. These days, that room feels tighter.
A lot of it traces back to the same things bringing energy to the area. New industry, like the big battery plant, has pulled in workers and families. Add in the steady river of trucks and beach-bound travelers funneling through the I-95 and I-20 split, and suddenly the same exits and feeder roads carry more weight than they used to.
That massive travel center off I-95 has been a boon in a lot of ways. Folks stop, spend, and sometimes even detour into town, but on busy days it turns the approach roads and the interstate itself into a slow parade. Locals know the drill: certain times of day or week, you either plan around it or accept you’re going to sit a while.
Then there’s the everyday friction. Right now, crews are working on stretches of National Cemetery Road and Paper Mill Road, with lane closures stretching into the fall. Just recently, SCDOT shifted the pattern at the Paper Mill and East National Cemetery Road intersection, new alignment, cones, and a fresh stop sign heading toward US-76. Smart move for safety, probably, but it’s one more reminder that the old flow doesn’t quite fit the current volume. You notice these tweaks more when you’ve driven the same routes for decades. And, this is expected to last by fall. Ok. We are getting used to it.
Don’t get me wrong, this still isn’t Charleston or Columbia gridlock. Most days you can still get where you need to go without losing your temper entirely. The backups tend to cluster around the interchanges, big events at the Civic Center, or peak summer travel when everybody seems to be heading toward or away from the coast. But “not as bad as the big cities” starts to feel like damning with faint praise when you’re the one tapping the wheel on what used to be an easy crosstown run.
Growth brings good things, jobs, new faces, a little more life in the local economy. I’m not against any of that. What nags at me is how the roads and the planning always seem to be playing catch-up. The interstates were supposed to open doors; now they sometimes feel like they’re funneling more pressure onto the streets the rest of us actually live on. I’ve watched this town evolve from something quieter into whatever it’s becoming, and the traffic is one of those changes you feel in your daily routine before the official reports catch up.
Florence has always had a way of making room for what comes next. I just hope we keep enough of the old ease so that getting from point A to point B doesn’t turn into its own chore. A few extra minutes here and there adds up over a lifetime behind the wheel.
