Southern Connector Toll Road

Southern Connector Timeline History

	Making The Connection Greenville county planners decide a connector around the southern perimeter of Greenville County is needed.
	Extra Support The Greenville Area Transportation Study supports the importance of a connector.
	Planning Ahead The connector is added to Greenville County’s 20-year plan.
	A Highway In Need A traditional South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) highway project still remained unfunded due to limited resources.
	Help From Congress Congress helps the connector out with the appropriation of over $7 million for preliminary engineering, environmental, and right of way studies.
	Taking A Toll - Part 1 The transportation 2000 committee recommends that the Southern Connector be built as a toll project.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	Breaking Physical Ground Construction begins on the Southern Connector in February of 1998.
	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.
	The 10,000,000 Milestone October 2, 2003 – The Southern Connector toll road accrues 10 million transactions.
	The 25,000,000 Milestone September 15, 2006 – The Southern Connector toll road accrues 25 million transactions.
	The 50,000,000 Milestone We proudly celebrate our 10th year anniversary! The Southern Connector provides the quickest commutes to key Upstate locations. We surpassed the 50 million transactions mark this year and look forward to servicing new business, industry, and residential areas in Southern Greenville County!
	New Transponder Technology Introduced The Southern Connector will be issuing the next generation of Palmetto Pass toll transponders in 2012. The new transponders or "Sticker Tags" as they are known, are much smaller and thinner that previous transponder models. They perform at a high rate of accuracy and are less obtrusive on windshields. The Southern Connector has also upgraded the hardware necessary to process both the new Sticker Tags and the older transponders. While similar Sticker Tags are being introduced around the country, ONLY Sticker Tags that have been issued by the Southern Connector will be accepted. At this time, the Sticker Tags will NOT be accepted on the Cross Island Parkway in Hilton Head. Motorists using the Cross Island Parkway, will not be issued a Sticker Tag. Instead, they must use a hard case transponder that can be read by both agencies. Motorists applying for a new account or exchanging their old Pass, MUST inform the Southern Connector Service Center of the toll roads they plan on using. Failure to do so may result in the issuance of Toll Violation Notices from the Cross Island Parkway.