2 weeks Ago
From Z to You is a weekly column in Free Times Have a question about life in Columbia and the Midlands you want answered? Email Zoe at [email protected] with the subject line "From Z to You." Question: When will construction along U.
S. 1/Augusta Road in West Columbia wrap up? Transparency is important. This is a self-submitted question.
But I drive this stretch of road — between Jarvis Klapman Boulevard and Wren Road — every single day. To say it's a headache for the hundreds of commuters who traverse it is an understatement. The stretch of Highway 1 anchors much of West Columbia's big-box retailers, and is bisected by an I-26 exit.
A stretch of U.S. Route 1 in West Columbia is set to wrap up $9.
9M in highway safety improvements this spring, according to SCDOT. (Source: ESRI) The $9.9 million construction project is funded by the federal Highway Safety Improvement Program and is being managed by the state Department of Transportation, according to a SCDOT spokeswoman.
Aimed at improving safety on the bottlenecking corridor, the project is adding concrete curbed median along several stretched of the road, including between Lowe's Home Improvement and Methodist Park Road. "The purpose of this project is to reduce the frequency and severity of crashes along the corridor while maximizing traffic operations," an SCDOT handout about the project reads. The project got federal funding based on the frequency of crashes, according to SCDOT.
And according to the state agency, raised medians reduce "crash potential" by limiting the areas where drivers can turn, thus limiting the stretches of roads two cars could come head to head. Construction on U.S.
1 (Augusta Road) in West Columbia is expected to wrap up this spring, according to the S.C. Dept.
of Transportation. According to reporting from The State, that stretch of road saw an average of 25 crashes a month in 2014 when a study was done ahead of the project. The project has been in the works for more than five years, according to SCDOT records.
During my drive home April 16, the framework for the medians was in, but landscaping needed to still be added. SCDOT said the construction is supposed to wrap up "in spring of 2025," which is ..
. right now. So let's hope that means any day now.
.
