The next step in an accelerated plan to widen rural sections of Interstate 26 between Columbia and Charleston is underway. The project is part of a larger plan to widen the interstate from the Midlands to the coast to alleviate the traffic jams that frequently halt travel. (File Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
CALHOUN COUNTY — The next step in an accelerated plan to widen rural sections of Interstate 26 between Columbia and Charleston is underway, transportation department officials announced Monday.
By the end of 2027, the 11-mile stretch between Gaston and St. Matthews will go from four lanes to six, with three going either direction. That will include rehabilitating or replacing five bridges and building two new ones, according to the transportation department. Altogether, it will cost the state about $440 million.
“I can’t tell y’all how excited folks are to finally get this project underway,” Rep. Russell Ott, D-St. Matthews, said Monday.
The project is part of a larger plan to widen the interstate from the Midlands to the coast — 114 miles in total — to alleviate the traffic jams that frequently halt travel, allow for more trucking and create more space for emergency vehicles to access wrecks, officials said Monday.
South Carolina has the nation’s fourth-largest state highway system serving the fastest-growing population, according to the latest U.S. Census Data.
That growth led lawmakers, in 2022, to speed up the widening of stretches of interstate considered critical to the state’s economy, using $453.5 million in federal COVID-19 pandemic aid and $133.6 million in state dollars designated for rural interstates.
Now, workers will be able complete the entire I-26 project by 2034, six years ahead of schedule.
The first 33 miles of Interstate 95 coming into South Carolina from Savannah, Georgia, also should be six total lanes by 2030.
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After the newest 11 miles in Lexington and Calhoun counties, crews will have three or four more stretches of highway to tackle, depending on how the department decides to split up the work, transportation secretary Justin Powell said. The next 9-mile phase will likely begin next year, he added, as crews continue to work their way southeast. Widening on the final 20-mile segment, all in Orangeburg County, will begin in 2029.
Officials are hoping to keep interstates open throughout construction, Powell said.
The project also ties into the revamping several interchanges, including the one connecting Interstates 95 and 26 in Charleston, and Carolina Crossroads — better known as Malfunction Junction — in Columbia.
Malfunction Junction in particular has been a thorn in Columbia travelers’ sides. The spot where interstates 20, 26 and 126 meet is notoriously tricky to navigate, and officials hope clearing up the 14 miles surrounding them will make entering and leaving Columbia easier.
“Thank goodness that’s being done,” said Sen. Nikki Setzler, D-West Columbia.
Widening the next section of highway south of Columbia will help keep people from detouring through country roads, causing more traffic in the smaller towns just off the highway, said Ott, who represents Calhoun County.
It will also make evacuating in case of a hurricane easier, Gov. Henry McMaster said. Transportation officials can reverse traffic in the case of a hurricane, first so that people can leave the coast, and again so they can return home.
“When we have hurricanes, we’ve seen the roads get crowded,” McMaster said.
Crews started widening the 16-mile stretch from Little Mountain to Irmo, just northwest of Columbia, in 2020. They will complete that project by the end of this year.
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