Traffic across Lexington County is bad. What projects are planned to fix it?
Ask anyone who lives or drives in Lexington, the county’s traffic problems are one of its largest growing pains.
As the county has ballooned by nearly 100,000 new people in the last two decades, more drivers have burdened old, unprepared infrastructure.
The county has tried twice in the last decade to introduce a Penny Tax, a 1% sales tax meant to provide money for capital improvement projects, in an effort to address its traffic issues, but voters have repeatedly shot it down.
While some efforts from state and local leaders to improve roadways and update worn-down thoroughfares have been completed, several projects are still in the works or years away. Here are some of the major projects that could impact traffic in Lexington in the coming years.
North Lake Drive, Downtown Lexington
One of the town of Lexington’s main thoroughfares, the corridor that connects North Lake Drive and Sunset Boulevard near downtown Lexington sees some 40,000 cars each day.
The town has already made several improvements along North Lake Drive, widening parts of it and adding a new road and turn lane leading to Lexington Elementary.
The town has already made several improvements along North Lake Drive, widening parts of it from only two lanes and adding a road and turn lane leading to Lexington Elementary School.
Two of the three phases of the project – which included widening the road from the One-Way Pair split at Church Street up to the old Dreher Street and then relocating Dreher Street – have been completed. The third and final phase will continue the previous work up to the Jim Hudson deadership on U.S. Hwy 378/Sunset Blvd. The first two phases were funded by hospitality tax revenue and cost just shy of $4.4 million.
Intersection of Corley Mill Road and Sunset Boulevard
Dubbed the “Sunset Split” project, this is aimed at realigning Corley Mill’s connection with Sunset, directing traffic down a new road around the TD Bank building and out onto Sunset across from Honda of Columbia.
The initial design for the new intersection was put together in 2020 and then redesigned in 2024, when the town announced it was reallocating state funds to help pay for the project. The project will cost upwards of $30 million with funds coming from hospitality tax revenue and Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds, as well as state appropriations.
Right-of-way acquisition began this summer. Construction is expected to begin in early 2027 and be completed within 18 to 24 months of that start date, the town’s Transportation Director Randy Edwards told The State previously.
U.S. 1 near Martel Drive in downtown Lexington
A plan to add a turn lane on the road that leads from Interstate 26 into Lexington’s Main Street could alleviate painful backups that plague the road leading to the heart of the town.
The traffic improvement, approved by town council in September, has been in the works for decades. The town is set to spend just shy of $2 million on improvements to the intersection that connects U.S. 1/East Main Street, Harmon Street and Martel Drive. The project would add a right turn lane and upgrade the existing intersection.
U.S 1 in West Columbia
Leaders for the city of West Columbia hope that three major roadway improvement projects will beautify and make safer one of the city’s most-traveled roads. The three projects along U.S. Highway 1/Meeting Street would add medians and decrease lanes to increase pedestrian safety. At least one person has died this year walking along the road.
A road diet for Meeting Street from the Gervais Street Bridge to Ninth Street. That project, which has been in talks since at least 2018, is expected to cost around $3.5 million and officials expect to have it completed by the end of 2026. Plans for the area – that’s increasingly been redeveloped with luxury apartments, restaurants and bars – include reducing the number of lanes, adding street parking and landscaping.
Further up that road, the state Department of Transportation began work last fall down U.S. 1 from Dreher Road to Wren Road right near the U.S. 1 Metro Flea Market. Changes to that area, which includes portions of the road that stretch into unincorporated Lexington County, are set to include added safety measures like new medians, crosswalks and traffic lights.
Columbia Avenue in Chapin
The two-lane road leading drivers off Interstate 26 into downtown Chapin saw more than 13,000 cars each day last year, according to S.C. Department of Transportation traffic counts.
The project, aimed to reduce congestion by adding more lanes and connecting roads, began construction in early 2025 and was anticipated to take 30 months, or more than two years, to complete, a department transportation official told the town of Chapin in September of last year.
