Author: Keith Jones

Upgrades to the electrical and chilled water infrastructure along Highway 93 continue. Below are the latest construction updates.

Sherman Road to resume normal operation

Construction contractor A.West has restored Sherman Road to normal operation. The road has been paved and barricades have been removed. Drivers should still take care as construction vehicles continue to use Sherman to enter the College of Business construction site.

Addison Lane to frontage road

The one-way side street that normally connects Highway 93 to Addison Lane has temporarily changed to a two-way street. This allows vehicles to reach the parking lot next to Holy Trinity Church along with the frontage road that runs parallel with 93.

Thanks for your patience

We understand this project represents a major disruption for the community and our contractors are working as quickly as possible to complete the necessary upgrades to campus. It is important to note that while this project has presented logistical challenges, these are short-term interruptions that will ultimately garner long-term benefits. Everyone’s patience is greatly appreciated. To find out more, please see our overview of campus utility construction.

01/25 Update – Barricades blocking access to Williamson Road will be removed on Jan 28, three days ahead of the revised schedule. Drivers will be able to turn left from Highway 93 onto Williamson, and those traveling along Williamson will be able to turn left onto Highway 93, which remains one-lane, one-way in this area. Vehicles headed eastbound along Highway 93 will continue to detour on to Perimeter Road.

01/22 Update – The Williamson intersection reopening has been postponed to approximately Jan. 31 due to rain and low temps in the forecast. Weather cooperating, we’re hopeful this will be the only delay. See this blog and our Twitter feed for any additional updates.

01/18 Update – A temporary crosswalk has been established at Pine St. while Williamson Rd. is blocked. Once construction passes Williamson, the crosswalk at the intersection will be restored.

Main campus—Construction continues to move forward along S.C. Highway 93 as workers upgrade underground utilities and pipes to serve the main campus. Toward that end, Facilities will extend the existing barricades along Highway 93 to Centennial Boulevard beginning today (Monday, Jan. 14). Access to Williamson Road will remain available until Tuesday (Jan. 15), when workers will place barricades at the Williamson Road/Highway 93 intersection, which will block access to Williamson Road from Highway 93.

Street parking on Williamson Road will remain available and the gravel lot parking by the West Energy Plant will continue to be available.

Traffic will continue to flow one-way westbound on Highway 93 from the College Avenue to the Centennial Road intersections.

Officials expect the Williamson Road/Highway 93 intersection to reopen in the late January/early February timeframe.

This post will be updated with any changes in scheduling as details are provided to us from the contractor.

A full overview of ongoing campus utility construction can be found on our website.

Please note: The City of Clemson plans to host its National Champion ship viewing party from 5 p.m. Monday until 2:30 a.m. Tuesday. College Avenue will be closed from Highway 93 to Keith Street during this time.

Contractor A. West is wrapping up construction work at the intersection of College Avenue and Highway 93. A new manhole was installed, but installation of a new electrical duct bank has been postponed until a later date due to weather.

Currently vehicles can turn left onto 93 without issue. Drivers turning right will encounter a sharp right-hand turn—large vehicles and trucks should not attempt to do so at this time.

Traffic flow will remain one-lane, one-way heading westbound along 93.

Manhole construction at the intersection of Highway 93 and College Avenue is scheduled for Dec. 27 through Jan. 7.

What you need to know

• Drivers approaching the intersection traveling westbound on Highway 93 South will be able to turn right onto College Avenue, as well as continue through the intersection along Hwy. 93.
• Vehicles approaching Hwy. 93 from College Avenue will be blocked from entering the intersection, and instead will detour onto North Clemson Avenue. Traffic can then reach Highway 93 South via Oak Street.
• Travelers heading eastbound on Hwy. 93 North will be blocked from approaching the intersection beginning at Williamson Road.

This traffic flow disruption is necessary to install a new manhole and duct bank that spans across the entire intersection. Once finished, it will complete a major phase of the upgrade to Clemson University’s infrastructure to ensure the campus has reliable sources of water and power.

Update: This project has been postponed and will be rescheduled for some time after December 20th.

Starting December 15, traffic heading westbound along Highway 93 will be required to turn right onto College Avenue to allow for construction of a new electrical manhole at this intersection.  Traffic entering 93 from College Ave. will only be able to turn left.  This traffic pattern will be in place until December 19.  During this time, traffic barricades will be installed to guide vehicles safely through the area.

Work will finish on the 19th, and Highway 93 will be completely open on December 20 in anticipation of Fall Graduation.  Related construction will continue on the 21st.

The images below show where lanes will be affected, indicating traffic flow and noting which lanes will be closed.

Update: This project has been postponed and will be rescheduled for some time after December 20th.

In the next phase of Highway 93 construction, workers will install a new electrical manhole at the intersection of Highway 93 and Williamson Road. Construction will take place from Dec. 11 through Dec. 14 and will require the limitation of traffic flow through this area to ensure everyone’s safety.

One-way traffic heading westbound

Traffic on Highway 93 will continue with the one-lane, one-way traffic pattern from the intersection with College Avenue to Williamson Rd. Drivers will be able to turn left from 93 onto Williamson Rd. However, vehicles entering 93 from Williamson will need to turn left for the time being, as eastbound traffic will be blocked.

Road closure near Pine Street

Vehicles heading eastbound along Highway 93 north will detour onto Perimeter Road for the duration of this phase, as traffic will only travel westbound as described above. Barricades and closure signage will be arranged at the intersection of Pine Street and Highway 93.

What’s next

The next phase of the Highway 93 construction project, workers will install an electrical manhole at the intersection of Highway 93 and College Avenue. Full details can be found on its dedicated blog post.

We understand the inconvenience caused by upgrades to Highway 93. The impact to campus as well as the city of Clemson is felt by all, and the drive to complete it as quickly as possible is second only to ensuring the safety of everyone involved. Thanks for your patience.

Clemson University Facilities is working on a major electrical distribution upgrade project that will increase the reliability of the campus electrical system as well as allow future load growth for the campus.  This project is expected to take until August of 2021 to complete and will require several planned outages during the course of the project for parts of campus.  This project work began in 2012 and has greatly reduced the annual number of major unplanned outages on the campus from previous years.

Duke Energy is working to relocate the existing 44kV transmission line that feeds campus so that a new 100kV transmission line and electrical substation can be built to feed campus as part of this upgrade project.  A campus wide 4 hour electrical outage will be required to tie in this temporary transmission line.

The target time and date for this outage is 9 AM to 1 PM on Friday, December 28^th, 2018

From Monday, December 3 until Friday, December 14, Highway 93 will be reduced to one-lane from College Avenue to Williamson Road. Traffic shifts will occur at Hillcrest Drive and Church of Christ driveway, with barricades leading drivers from the northernmost lane to the southernmost and back again.

Entrances to driveways as indicated in the visual below will be blocked for the duration of this work segment.  Traffic heading eastbound along 93 must turn right onto Williamson.

Clemson University Recycling is teaming up with Shred-A-Way to host a free secure-shred day event on campus. Shred-A-Way will be located in the C-12 parking lot (corner of Perimeter Road and Williamson Road) on Friday, August 10 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Please limit the documents you bring to (1) box or three bags (kitchen trash bags or smaller) per vehicle. There is no need to remove binders, binder clips, paper clips, staples, rubber bands, or CDs/DVDs prior to shredding. This event is intended to help manage typical secure-shredding needs, not full-scale office clean outs. Keeping within these guidelines will ensure an efficient operation and timely service while helping keep the cost of this event free.

Thanks to a dedicated group of contractors lead by Hutch-N-Son Construction, Newman road will open Friday July 27, two weeks ahead of schedule. This opening will provide an important connection between Highway 93 and Perimeter Road and aid in traffic delays along east campus routes. Please use caution along the new road and be aware of all new signage including the new traffic signal at the intersection of Newman and Perimeter Roads.

Click on the map below to find out more about the changes to Newman Road.