The most dangerous interstates for truckers: No. 4 — I-20

Interstate 20 corridor. (Image: Wikimedia)

Interstate 20 is a major east-west route across the South, spanning more than 1,500 miles. Beginning near Kent in western Texas, at the juncture of  Interstate 10, it runs to Florence, South Carolina, where it ends at Interstate 95. I-20 runs through several states, connecting major cities such as Dallas-Fort Worth; Shreveport, Louisiana; Jackson, Mississippi; Birmingham, Alabama; Atlanta and Augusta, Georgia; and Columbia, South Carolina. From its terminus at I‑95, the highway continues about 2 miles east into the city of Florence as Business Spur 20.

I-20’s path in Atlanta was designed in the late 1950s, during the era of segregation, to separate the city’s white and African-American populations. The highway’s exit numbers in Georgia — formerly labeled in numerical order — were changed in 2000 to reflect how many miles each exit is from the state line or from the Georgia city where the interstate starts. This conforms to the system used in most other states.

In 2003, the North Carolina Department of Transportation proposed extending I-20 eastward from Florence to the North Carolina coast. The proposed route would run parallel to U.S. Highway 74/U.S. Highway 76 most of the way. As part of the 2005 Safe Accountable Flexible Efficient Transportation Equity Act (SAFETEA), North Carolina received $5 million for a feasibility study for the extension. However, the South Carolina Department of Transportation has opposed the project, concentrating on plans to extend Interstate 73, which would end near Myrtle Beach.

Truckers can keep track of real-time traffic on I-20 here. The remainder of the top five list will be revealed one by one each day the rest of this week.

Click here for more FreightWaves articles by Nick Austin.

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