Biden said his infrastructure bill will fund Malfunction Junction fix. Is that true?
President Joe Biden said his infrastructure bill is going to fix Columbia’s infamous Malfunction Junction interstate tangle, but that might not be the case.
At his appearance at a West Columbia manufacturing facility on Thursday, Biden listed a number of infrastructure improvements in South Carolina that would be funded by his administration’s spending, including the ongoing work to improve traffic flow at Columbia’s Malfunction Junction interchange where Interstates 20, 26 and 126 converge.
“The biggest one, right here in Columbia – Malfunction Junction,” Biden said. “You all know it. How many years we’ve been talking about fixing malfunction junction? Now, thanks to (South Carolina U.S. Rep.) Jim Clyburn and help from the infrastructure law, it’s finally gonna get fixed. It’s gonna get fixed.”
Here’s a look at just what impact Biden’s economic initiatives have had and will have on Malfunction Junction.
The groundbreaking for the Carolina Crossroads project, the S.C. Department of Transportation’s name for the ongoing work to improve traffic flow at Malfunction Junction, occurred on Nov. 8, 2021. Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which he said was helping fund the project, was signed into law a week later on Nov. 15.
During Biden’s visit to the West Columbia Flex LTD manufacturing facility on Thursday, he encouraged the audience to use invest.gov — a White House website — to find where his administration’s infrastructure package was funding projects in their area.
According to the website, a total of $332.5 million in federal money has been allocated so far from Biden’s initiatives for improvements to the Interstate 26/20/126 corridor — Malfunction Junction. This works out to be about 16% of the total cost of the Carolina Crossroads project, which the state transportation department says is costing $2.08 billion in total.
Figures provided to The State by the White House indicate that a total of $1.6 billion from the Federal Highway Administration, via the National Highway Performance Program, ultimately will go toward the Carolina Crossroads project. The National Highway Performance Program was reauthorized and funded in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
A news release from the transportation department in May 2021 said 90% of the funding for the project would come from the federal government, with the remaining money coming from the state, including the 2017 state gas tax increase.
A transportation spokesperson was not available for comment Friday.
Biden pointed to longtime ally Clyburn, a Columbia Democrat, in his remarks Thursday for helping secure the federal funding that would go toward the Malfunction Junction project. Clyburn, who spoke ahead of Biden’s appearance in West Columbia, was instrumental in securing votes for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, according to previous reporting by The State.
The Carolina Crossroads project is underway now and is scheduled to be completed in five phases by 2029, according to the state transportation department.
This story was originally published July 10, 2023 at 10:14 AM.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to include additional information from the White House regarding the amount of federal money going toward the Carolina Crossroads project.