$30M makeover of aged Greenville bridge half done. Here’s the remaining timeline, traffic impact

Construction on the aged bridge that skirts downtown Greenville is halfway finished.

The city of Greenville posted a video of Brandon Couch, a South Carolina Department of Transportation engineer, saying Phase 1 and 2 are complete and Phase 3 is beginning.

The project would shut down during the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament and NCAA Men’s March Madness in March, so the bridge will be fully open.

The 2026 SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament will take place March 4–8, 2026, at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Also at the arena is the men’s first round March 19-21.

Once work resumes, the bridge will be shut down for six weeks to complete the project, including resurfacing. So far, the work has been completed by closing two of the four lanes.

The project, estimated to cost $30 million, began in April 2025.

Built in 1959, the landmark U.S. 29 Bridge is also known as the Church Street Bridge and extends 0.32 miles from Washington Street to Camperdown Way.

The work includes steel girder painting, joint sealing, fixing the concrete, barrier/sidewalk replacement and bridge deck rehabilitation with hydrodemolition with concrete overlay to improve the poor condition of the deck concrete.

One side of the sidewalk will be increased to 9 feet wide from 5 feet, stairs down to McBee Street will be replaced and new lighting installed.

“As the bridge has aged, and traffic volumes have increased, the condition of the structure has deteriorated to the point that a large-scale rehabilitation is necessary,” DOT said on its website.

Average daily volume was 26,300 vehicles in 2021. DOT predicts there will be 38,000 on the road by 2039.