South Carolina Highway 9

Infobox road
state=SC
type=SC
route=9
length_round=
length_ref=
established=
direction_a=West
terminus_a=jct|state=NC|NC|9 at North Carolina state line near New Prospect
direction_b=East
terminus_b=jct|state=SC|US|17 in North Myrtle Beach
counties=Spartanburg, Union, Chester, Lancaster, Chesterfield, Marlboro, Dillon, Horry,
previous_type=SC
previous_route=8
next_type=SC
next_route=11

South Carolina Highway 9 (abbreviated S.C. 9) is a state highway in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The route runs from the North Carolina border upstate to North Myrtle Beach, near the Atlantic coast.

Route description

S.C. 9 begins at the North Carolina-South Carolina border, where the road continues as NC 9. This is about twelve miles northwest of Spartanburg.

The road slowly heads southeast to Spartanburg. Five miles into its existence S.C. 9 intersects S.C. 11 and then two miles later, S.C. 9 intersects S.C. 292.

Finally, S.C. 9 enters through the northeast section of Spartanburg and crosses over I-85 and I-585. Then S.C. 9 comes into US 29 and a couple of other state highways. Finally, after a mangled mess of roads, S.C. 9 leaves the Spartanburg metro.

About four miles east of Spartanburg, S.C. 9 hits S.C. 150 in downtown Pacolet. In another five miles or so, S.C. 9 enters Jonesville, where S.C. 9 merges with S.C. 18. S.C. 9 merges off S.C. 18 nearly a mile out of town.

The next town is nearly 7.5 miles away (Dillon Park). On the way there, S.C. 9 runs across S.C. 114 and S.C. 105. Once in downtown Dillon Park, S.C. 9 merges with S.C. 49 for nearly a half-mile.

The next town is six more miles to the east. That town is Chester. There S.C. 9 avoids the city by going south and merging with S.C. 97 and S.C. 121 Bypass. Having avoided the city, S.C. 9 merges off moves eastward.

Eight miles east of Chester, S.C. 9 crosses over I-77 and enters Richburg. This includes merging with S.C. 901 for about a mile. Once in downtown, S.C. 9 turns left and out of Richburg. However, it doesn't take long for S.C. 9 to enter Fort Lawn, where it goes over US 21.

Once again, S.C. 9 doesn't leave the metro area. It quickly enters the rapidly growing city of Lancaster. Right before it enters town, S.C. 9 Business spreads off. That is covered later. S.C. 9 then meets crosses over US 521 and S.C. 200.

Finally, S.C. 9 enters the rural area of upstate S.C. and rolls through the countryside at interstate speeds, with the biggest thing on the road to Pageland being an intersection with S.C. 522. While entering Pageland, S.C. 9 merges with US 601. US 601 merges off with S.C. 151 in downtown Pageland.

S.C. 9 has a five-mile stretch between Pageland and Camden where S.C. 9 serves as S.C. 268. It is another mile to Ruby.

S.C. 9 goes left when it serves as the eastern terminus to S.C. 265 one mile from Ruby. Having turned dead east, S.C. 9 enters Chesterfield, South Carolina. Once again, it breaks off in a business route (detailed later) and then it meets S.C. 102 and S.C. 145.

S.C. 9 then proceeds onto Cheraw. While entering downtown, S.C. 9 merges with US 52 and then onto U.S. 1 to get out of town. S.C. 9 does merge off US 1 after down and S.C. 9 heads east, where it shortly meets S.C. 177 and then S.C. 79.

Seven miles southeast of Cheraw, S.C. 9 runs into Bennettsville. S.C. 9 merges with S.C. 38 for one mile, entering downtown Bennettsville, where S.C. 9 runs eastward with US 401 for nearly mile before merging off again. There is another S.C. 9 Business, which will be explained later.

S.C. 9 then proceeds onto the tiny town of Clio where the main intersection is with S.C. 381.

Nearly seven miles later, after merging S.C. 57, S.C. 9/57 crosses over I-95 and enters Dillon. There S.C. 9/57 merges with US 301 before all three go their separate ways in downtown.

A further ten miles to the east, S.C. 9 meets up with S.C. 41 in Lake View, South Carolina. Here S.C. 9 comes very close to the NC border (about two miles south), but as soon as S.C. 9 leaves town, it heads due south into deep rural land for nine to ten miles.

Finally, S.C. 9 enters Nichols where it merges with US 76 for a little more than a mile. Antoher six miles goes by before S.C. 9 begins to enter the beach zone, as another S.C. 9 Business (again described later) merges off. With S.C. 9 Bus, S.C. 9 is able to avoid downtown Loris, going by the Twin City Airport and having an interchange with US 701.

After meeting back up with its Business Route, S.C. 9 heads towards the NC border, this time as close as a mile. Yet again, S.C. 9 bends south where it meets S.C. 905 in Longs, an interchange with Carolina Bays Parkway; and then heads into downtown North Myrtle Beach. There it crosses over US 17 and S.C. 90 and goes through one mile of beach, where it continues as S.C. 65 along the beachfront.

Business routes

Lancaster

S.C. 9 Business merges off S.C. 9 Bypass (F.W. McWhirter Expressway) about 2 miles northwest of Lancaster. After going south for half-a-mile, S.C. 9 BUS bends eastwards and heads straight eastwards. S.C. 9 BUS merges onto US 521 for one block and then merges back off, crosses over S.C. 200, and quickly S.C. 9 BUS is out of downtown on E. Arch St. A half-mile after crossing over S.C. 200, S.C. 9 BUS ends at S.C. 9 Bypass. Other than Spartanburg, the City of Lancaster is the largest urban area SC 9 runs through before reaching the North Myrtle Beach area.

Chesterfield

S.C. 9 BUS's purpose in Chesterfield is unknown. It runs exactly parallel to S.C. 9 for its entire length, beginning one mile west of Chesterfield and ending a half-mile east of Chesterfield. The main intersection of S.C. 9 BUS is at S.C. 145. Otherwise, S.C. 9 BUS is just a "little brother" of S.C. 9.

Bennettsville

S.C. 9 BUS begins one mile north of Bennettsvile when S.C. 9 merges with S.C. 38. S.C. 9 BUS heads straight into downtown Bennettsville, where just before downtown S.C. 9 merges with S.C. 385. There it runs just north of downtown before moving south in the outskirts of town and ends again at S.C. 9.

Loris

S.C. 9 Business begins nearly 5 miles northwest of Loris, heading due south from S.C. 9. However, it only goes south for about a mile, before turning eastward at the eastern termnius of S.C. 917. S.C. 9 BUS then makes the run into downtown Loris, the downtown being at the intersection with US 701. As soon as S.C. 9 BUS clears US 701, it has a clear mile and a half run back to S.C. 9.

References