U.S. Highway 17 in Mount Pleasant to close for five nights

Painting of a new overpass connecting Interstate 526 and Hungryneck Boulevard in Mount Pleasant will require closing U.S. 17 for five nights starting Tuesday. .

Workers will detour all U.S. 17 traffic and re-route motorists on Hungryneck Boulevard between U.S. 17 and Venning Road. The I-526 exit ramp onto U.S. 17 and the ramp from U.S. 17 onto I-526 will also be affected, said Gulfstream Construction.

Detours will start at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. U.S. 17 will re-open at 6 a.m. during the week, 7:30 a.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. Sunday, the contractor said.

The nightly closures are necessary to paint the girders for the overpass and hang new signage. If the weather is not suitable for the work, the full closure of U.S. 17 could become a one-lane closure only, the contractor said.

“Every effort is being made to complete these interchange improvements in a timely fashion with as little inconvenience to the traveling public as possible,” Gulfstream said.

More painting that affects I-526 is also happening on Tuesday night but it will not require detours. Crews will remove old pavement markings and put down new striping on the highway for about the next two weeks, officials said.

The work will be from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. through Feb. 18 from the Westmoreland Bridge over the Ashley River to the Long Point Road exit, according to contractor TMI Services Inc.

The interstate painting is done every five years, said James Law, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.