COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Department of Transportation announced Friday some opening work for the I-26 widening project to begin soon.
A few years back, SCDOT announced its plans to widen I-26 near Exit 101 to about Exit 85.
Per SCDOT, the project is to "increase roadway capacity, improve safety, and correct deficiencies along the mainline and at several interchanges and overpasses in this section."
Street Squad spoke with Brad Reynolds, Design Build Program Manager and one of the Project Managers for the widening for I-26 who told us about some early construction work that will be happening soon to get ready for the widening.
"Ahead of most of the major construction that's going to happen on the project, they're actually just going to go out and overlay the lanes that are existing out there so they'll be able to be maintained during the actual construction of the rest of the project," Reynolds says.
Reynolds says they are doing this first because the current condition of the pavement is "pretty bad" throughout the segments so they are going to do this overlay to maintain the roads throughout the construction of the project. "Its going to extend the life of the existing pavement until we can get the new pavement completed."
Reynolds says this part of construction will take place during the nighttime when traffic is at its lightest.
"However, the major portions [of construction] when you get into the segments, that will not all be done at night. There will be some traffic control that is going on during the day," Reynolds says. "However, we will always maintain two lanes in each direction of traffic out there in the daytime hours."
Reynolds says the overlay process should begin in the next couple of months.
According to the SCDOT, the I-26 Widening Project itself will begin around Spring of 2020 and hopefully finish up by the end of 2023. It will add two lanes in each direction from around Exit 101 to Exit 97. From Exit 97 to Exit 85 it will add one additional lane to each direction. Interchanges are set to be improved at Exits 97, 91 and 85. As well as overpass bridge replacements at Koon Road, Shady Grove Road, Mt. Vernon Church Road, Old Hilton Road, Peak Street, Holy Trinity Church Road and Parr Road.
There will also be an upgrade to the weigh station at mile marker 94.
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