New concrete median going up on this Midlands road. It could save drivers’ lives, DOT says
Drivers on Augusta Road might have noticed recently when road crews began constructing new concrete medians in the middle of the busy road running between Lexington and West Columbia.
Designs by the S.C. Department of Transportation show how once completed, the medians could be planted with manicured flowerbeds. But this isn’t a beautification project, but an effort to stop drivers from being injured or killed when they try to make a turn from what is today Augusta Road’s central turn lane.
The planned safety improvement project runs for 2.5 miles along U.S. 1 from the end of Jarvis Klapman Boulevard to Wren Road just past the US1 Metro Flea Market, passing under Interstate 26 along the way.
While work on the median only began in October, preliminary work on the project began in the middle of 2020. The medians will improve driver safety, according to crash data surveyed by DOT, S.C. Highway Patrol and local agencies. It is projected to cost just under $10 million.
A study prior to the project recorded 305 vehicle collisions along the stretch in 2014, a rate of 25 a month. The previous three years averaged 23 wrecks a month, resulting in 278 injuries and three fatalities. The agency considers the ideal traffic volume for a two-way turn lane like Augusta Road currently has to be less than 25,000, while the daily number of vehicles west of I-26 is almost 45,000.
The project was initially identified by the Federal Highway Safety Improvement Program, according to a project page set up by DOT.
“The HSIP uses a data-driven strategic approach to identify locations throughout the state with high crash rates or patterns and implements safety enhancements through infrastructure-related improvements,” it said.
In its planning documents, the department points to “little or no overall adverse impact” on neighboring businesses. The affected stretch of Augusta Road includes multiple shopping centers and restaurants, as well as the open-air flea market beside Wren Road. Studies of median installations in other states have shown steady or increased business at neighboring sites after medians were installed.
Also planned are new crosswalks, traffic lights, signs and u-turn “bulbs” to improve turning. Not only will landscaping the medians provide “aesthetic benefits,” but also give pedestrians a “refuge” at the mid-point of their crossing, according to planning documents.
The project is expected to be completed in the spring of 2025. It is unrelated to both the larger ongoing project further up Interstate 26 to renovate the “Malfunction Junction” intersection with Interstate 20.
.jpg)