RICHLAND COUNTY, S.C. — Officials say they want to use funding from the Richland Penny Tax to improve three of northeastern Richland County's busiest intersections.
George Kreese lives near the intersection of Sparkleberry Lane and Clemson Road in northeast Columbia. He said traffic and crashes have been a headache for years when coming to and from work.
"A lot of problems, accidents, hold ups, and once an accident occurs there with all the traffic that happens in the morning and the evening, it's a horrible, tremendous delay," said Kreese.
Michael Maloney is the Director of Public Works and Transportation at Richland County. He said his office was altered about the issue in a 2011 traffic report. That information was then used to compile a list of projects that would need to be done.
Maloney said this is the final project on that list.
"The studies indicated that this was an important location because of growth and background traffic concerns, accident rates and congestion," he said.
On Thursday, the county hosted a public meeting to introduce the changes it plans to make along Clemson Road, Sparkleberry Lane, and Sparkleberry Crossing Road.
He said the county will add additional lanes to Clemson Road and eliminate left-hand turns from Sparkleberry Lane onto Clemson Road.
The county is also hoping to widen Sparkleberry Lane to four lanes and install new signals at each intersection.
"The signal and intersection (at Sparkleberry and Clemson) will be modified to take on more traffic coming off Interstate 20 heading into Sparkleberry Lane, so there will be two left turns there," Maloney said. "Likewise, for people heading down Sparkleberry Lane, there will be right runs to get to I-20,"
The project will be funded with money from the Richland County Penny Tax. Councilwoman Jessica Mackey said that with continued growth in her district, she thinks these projects are necessary to sustain new development and increase the number of residents.
"With that growth, we know the infrastructure is needed and luckily, this project, the Clemson Road/Sparkleberry intersection project was already included in the Transportation Penny," she said.
Kreese attended the meeting on Wednesday and said he's hopeful improvements to the area will continue.
"Something had to be done, and this looks about the best solution to keep the traffic flowing and maybe minimize the accidents that we've seen out there," he said. "I live right in that area, and I think this was the best solution they could've came up with."
The county expects construction will begin in early 2026.