Phase 1 of SC’s Malfunction Junction project is almost completed. What’s next & how fast?
It might seem like the work on repairing Columbia’s Malfunction Junction has been going on forever, but actually one phase of the project is set to be complete within weeks.
Work on the interchange between Interstate 26 and Interstate 126 — running from approximately Colonial Life Boulevard on I-126 to Sunset Boulevard on I-26 — is set to be complete by Oct. 14, the project manager for what the S.C. Department of Transportation calls the “Carolina Crossroads” project told the Lexington County Council this week.
Project Director Brian Klauk said the completion of the interchange improvements brings an end to Phase 1 of the project, with another five phases scheduled to complete the roll out by 2029. In the process, it’s hoped, the traffic headaches that have given an unflattering nickname to the overactive intersection of I-26 and Interstate 20 willl ease up.
“The average person will save 122 hours a year not sitting in traffic at Malfunction Junction,” Klauk said. “They can deliver freight, get to the beach and the mountains, and get to work. Our goal is to make Malfunction Junction a thing of the past, and it will have earned a new name.”
Phase 1 has already extended the exit ramp from I-26 onto Sunset Boulevard, and created a new bridge on Colonial Life Boulevard and connectors from Colonial Life onto 26 and 126, the most recent of which was expected to be completed by Thursday morning this week. Klauk said the clutter of ramps at Colonial Life will form “a diverging diamond, where traffic crosses over each other at a traffic signal, so you don’t have to wait for traffic to take a left turn.”
As part of this phase, SCDOT has already permanently closed the ramps connecting the Bush River Road with I-26, believing them to be too close to the interchanges with 20 and 126.
“They are not in the ideal place, in between two interstate to interstate interchanges,” Klauk said. “It leads to increased congestion and decreased safety.
He suggested traffic in the future use the Colonial Life exit or the Bush River connection to I-20.
Phase 2 of the project is underway at the same time, focused on improving the connection between Broad River Road and I-20, including two new overpasses on Broad River. This section of the project is expected to be completed next year.
Right now, “There’s a hole where the old bridge used to be,” Klauk said. “There’s going to be a new bridge in the socket where the old bridge used to be, so there will be two bridges. That will allow us to separate traffic. ... It has a supreme advantage of traffic flowing one way on each bridge.”
Then crews will move on to the meat of the project — representing fully half the price tag of the $2 billion Crossroads. Phase 3 focuses on the main interchange between 20 and 26, extending down I-20 from Broad River Road to Sunset Boulevard, and from 26/126 down to St. Andrews Road.
With work on this project coming up this year, DOT broke Phase 3 up into five distinct mini-phases last October, with plans to roll them out over some six years. Crews have already started relocating utilities and frontage roads along the interstates, with DOT purchasing and demolishing some neighboring buildings to do so. Just a couple weeks ago, the contract was awarded to clear out 170 acres adjacent to the project, which is expected to start by the end of this year and be completed next year.
Next, I-20 will be widened from Bush River Road to Sunset Boulevard between 2025 and 2026, including the replacement of the bridge over the Saluda River and a CSX rail bridge.
“This will be raised to accommodate a flood at least as big as the one in 2015,” Klauk said.
In 2026, work will begin on the final improvements to the interchange at I-126 heading into downtown Columbia and I-26 headed to Charleston (“a lot of bridgework,” Klauk said). At the same time, I-26 will be widened out to Broad River Road, including a restructured interchange with Harbison Boulevard. Both phases are expected to be completed in 2027.
The final piece of the Crossroads project will be the cloverleaf intersection between I-20 and I-26 themselves, to be completed in 2029-29. No longer will drivers have to weave across multiple lanes of traffic within a half-mile to connect to the next interstate, creating a smoother experience for drivers wherever they happen to be headed across the Palmetto State.
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