September 1957 page 9

Spartanburg
Looks At
Highways

NOW that the nation's multi-billion dollar inter-state highway construction program is gathering momentum Piedmont Carolinians are showing an increasing interest in the planning and effect of the vast network of highways soon to spread across the country.
Evidence of this interest was plentiful in Spartanburg this month when several hundred business men gathered for a highway conference under the sponsorship of the Spartanburg Chamber of Commerce. On hand to present the facts and answer questions were Claude R. McMillan, South Carolina's chief highway commissioner, and K. F. Shippey, division engineer for the Bureau of Public Roads, U. S. Department of Commerce.
Spartanburg, though it already knew it, was told that it was about to become the hub of two vital arteries of highway commerce - U. S. 29, Main Street of the South, and U. S. 176, a Charleston to Chicago expressway now in the planning stages. These two limited-access, dual-lane highways wil intersect near the city, providing it with highway facilities second to none in the Carolinas.
Work on double-tracking U. S. 20 as it sweeps west of the city is already well underway, with more to come. U. S. 176 will be relocated southwest of the city within the next two years. Both highways will cross over the P & N's Souh Carolina Division - U. S. 176 at a point near Camp Wadsworth, west of Spartanburg, and U. S. 29 at a point about 7 miles west of Spartanburg toward Greenville. The two highways will greatly in

Chief Commissioner McMillan

crease the accessibility of the area, thereby making it more attractive to new industry.
In his talk to the Spartanburg businessmen, Mr. Shippey stressed the builtin safety features of the highways. Chief Commissioner McMillan cited some of the problems involved in getting the gigantic progran under way and later answered a number of questions.
The Spartanburg highway conference, conducted in an atmosphere of interest and cooperation, may well foreshadow other similar conferences which undoubtedly will be arranged as the construction program gathers momentum. Certainly the business leadership of communities involved should be informed on the plan and progress of this new highway system, and conferences such as the one in Spartanburg serve that purpose.
The super-highway system will have a such a significant and far-reaching effect on real estate values, community planining, industrial development, farming, transportation, and other facets of government and business that it deserves the interest and scrutiny of all citizens. Spartanburg leaders, in arranging the recent conference, demonstrated an awareness of this fact and, in so doing, focused attention on their own city as one of the hubs of the proposed network of modern highways.

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