COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina transportation officials are considering nearly 50 different proposals to untangle one of the state’s worst intersections.
Some of the solutions to fix the bottleneck where Interstates 20, 26 and 126 all meet northwest of downtown Columbia involve building new roads in a fix that could cost up to $1.5 billion and take seven years to complete.
Two of the most ambitious idea involves bypasses of the current maze of exits and ramps that about 130,000 vehicles pass through each day. One would build bypasses to connect I-126 to I-20 over I-26. That would involve new river bridges, The State newspaper reports (https://bit.ly/2rcI9ZX).
A second idea would be to build a new road through mostly undeveloped land in northern Richland County to connect I-26 near Irmo to Interstate 77 near Blythewood to reduce the number of vehicles that use the current interchanges. That road would need a new bridge over the Broad River.
Those solutions would be expensive and could be opposed by environmentalists who want little disruption to undeveloped land.
The new roads could affect paddling and angling, threaten endangered fish and plants and interfere with extension of a long-planned greenway, Congaree Riverkeeper Bill Stangler said.
“We have serious concerns about the significant impact that both would have,” Stangler said.
DOT officials plan to narrow down the plans to about six ideas this summer, get public input, then come up with a plan with construction hopefully beginning in 2019.
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Information from: The State, https://www.thestate.com
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