Here’s how state officials plan to fix Malfunction Junction

State transportation officials propose to ease traffic congestion at Columbia’s notorious Malfunction Junction with a combination of new freeway-style ramps, wider frontage roads and adding two lanes to six miles of I-26.

Those changes outlined Tuesday are intended to divert significant traffic off I-20 and I-26 at their intersection with I-126.

The state Department of Transportation on Tuesday released two options for alleviating what officials say is the worst traffic problem in South Carolina. Both options are similar, with the main difference being the engineering design of the intersection of I-20 and I-26

The public can review the plans in more detail and offer opinions during a public meeting Sept. 19.

The final plan will be selected next year as the long-sought solution to the congestion at the intersection of the three interstates, which are major routes both for commuters and cargo haulers. Up to 133,600 vehicles travel through the I-20/I-26 intersection daily, traffic studies say.

Both plans add multi-lane ramps, some elevated, to get people off of the interstates. The plans also would:

▪ Widen frontage roads from one to two or three lanes for traffic headed to and from downtown Columbia as well as Irmo, Harbison and the St. Andrews area.

Planners believe wider frontage roads will cause more motorists to use them for local travel instead of I-26.

▪ Add another lane each way on I-26 from I-126 to Broad River Road near Irmo.

The ramps, frontage road improvements and extra I-26 lanes would nearly double the lanes headed in both ways in some areas.

The plans will improve traffic flow “tremendously” by separating local traffic from other vehicles passing through the area, project manager Brian Klauk said.

For instance, motorists on I-26 and I-20 who are headed into the Columbia area would be diverted to one set of interstate lanes while travelers passing through the Columbia area would be sent to another set of lanes. That strategy is common in Atlanta and other major cities in the Southeast.

Both plans eliminate the interchange for Bush River Road off I-26, a spot that transportation officials describe in a report as a “traffic conflict point” that forces motorists to weave too much among lanes.

Under the plans, the nearby Colonial Life Boulevard interchange would be reconfigured to replace the current Bush River Road interchange.

Widening interchange entrances, exit loops and ramps also are included on I-26 from Harbison Boulevard to U.S. 378, on I-20 from Bush River Road to Broad River Road, and on I-126 from I-26 to Colonial Life Boulevard, according to both plans.

The renovations are near current roads, reducing the impact on nearby property to slightly less than 300 parcels, officials said.

Plans call for work on the $1.5 billion project to start in 2019 and take up to 7 years to complete, officials predict. It’s one of the most complex road improvements state officials have undertaken.

The highways were built in the 1960s. Improvements were made from 1976-97 as more neighborhoods and stores rose along the routes.

But no one foresaw the number of vehicles today traveling the roads as the Columbia area grew and I-26 became a lifeline between Lowcountry ports and Upstate manufacturers.

In their proposals, state officials rejected several alternatives, including:

▪ Adding a new road connecting I-26 in the Harbison area to I-77 near Blythewood.

▪ Widening Broad River and St. Andrews Roads, a step that would have affected an estimated 1,700 businesses.

▪ Creating a bypass between I-20 and I-126, which would have razed up to 236 homes in West Columbia neighborhoods.

“None of these options would effectively reduce traffic congestion on I-26 or improve mobility,” according to the report released Tuesday.

It will take time for residents to digest the options to decide if either is satisfactory, State Rep. Chip Huggins, R-Irmo, said.

One environmental group is happy that the impact on the Saluda and Broad rivers seems minimal. “The biggest concerns we had are not on the board any more,” Congaree Riverkeeper Bill Stangler said.

This story was originally published September 5, 2017 at 12:55 PM with the headline "Here’s how state officials plan to fix Malfunction Junction."