Interstate 26 (I-26) is a

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

Interstate highway The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

running generally east–west from near Landrum, in Spartanburg County, to U.S. Route 17 (US 17), in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

. It is also the longest Interstate Highway in South Carolina.

Route description

I-26 runs through South Carolina. Milemarkers run from west (north) to east (south). Milemarker 0 is in the mountains at the North Carolina state line. The last exit, at US 17 south of Charleston, is exit 221. I-26 runs between the Broad and Saluda Rivers, descending from the mountains to the piedmont or midlands. At Columbia, I-126 crosses the confluence of the Broad and Saluda, which together form the Congaree, near the Columbia Canal and water treatment plant. I-26 continues following the Congaree until it hops south over into the Cooper and Ashley Drainage, then down to the coast. I-26 is predominantly a four-lane rural Interstate with speed limits. In the Columbia and Charleston areas, the Interstate widens to six lanes, but speeds are lower. I-26 enters South Carolina just northeast of Landrum, traveling a southeasterly direction. The first major city along its route is

Spartanburg Spartanburg is a city in and the seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest city in the state. For a time, the Offi ...

, where it intersects

I-85 Interstate 85 (I-85) is a major Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 65, I-65 in Montgomery, Alabama; its northern terminus is an interchange with Interstate 95, I ...

to Greenville and

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

. As the Interstate weaves along the terrain, it reaches Clinton; where westbound travelers can connect with I-385 toward Greenville. Traveling through the

Sumter National Forest The Sumter National Forest is one of two forests in South Carolina that are managed together by the United States Forest Service, the other being the Francis Marion National Forest. The Sumter National Forest consists of which are divided into 3 ...

, it connects with

Newberry Newberry is a surname, a variant of Newbury. Notable people with the surname include: * Booker Newberry III (born 1956), American singer and keyboardist * Brennan Newberry (born, 1990), American professional stock car racing driver * Brian Newb ...

before entering the

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

. At Columbia in a section known as " Malfunction Junction", it connects with

I-20 Interstate 20 (I‑20) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I-20 runs beginning at an interchange with I-10 in Scroggins Draw, Texas, and ending at an interchange with I-95 in Florence, South Carolina. Between ...

to Augusta and

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

and I-126 toward the downtown area; it then goes south over the

Saluda River The Saluda River is a principal tributary of the Congaree River, about 200 mi (320 km) long, in northern and western South Carolina in the United States. Via the Congaree River, it is part of the watershed of the Santee River, which f ...

and into

Lexington County Lexington County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 293,991, and the 2021 population estimate was 300,137. Its county seat and largest town is Lexington. The county was chartered ...

for the second of eventually four times along its course. At Cayce, it connects with

I-77 Interstate 77 (I-77) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. It traverses diverse terrain, from the mountainous state of West Virginia to the rolling farmlands of North Carolina and Ohio. It largely supplants the ...

to Charlotte. South of Cayce, the Interstate goes up and down a few very long hills before reaching the outskirts of Orangeburg and

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

and Florence. As it enters the relatively flat plains of the

Lowcountry The Lowcountry (sometimes Low Country or just low country) is a geographic and cultural region along South Carolina's coast, including the Sea Islands. The region includes significant salt marshes and other coastal waterways, making it an impor ...

, the area becomes urbanized as the Interstate encroaches upon

North Charleston North Charleston is the third-largest city in the state of South Carolina.City Planning Department (2008-07)City of North Charleston boundary map. City of North Charleston. Retrieved January 21, 2011. On June 12, 1972, the city of North Charlest ...

and Charleston. As the Interstate curves through the peninsula formed by the

Ashley Ashley is a place name derived from the Old English words '' æsc'' (“ash”) and '' lēah'' (“meadow”). It may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ashley (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...

and

Cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ...

rivers, it connects with I-526 to Savannah and Mount Pleasant. Near the end, it overlaps with US 17 from its new interchange (from the

Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge (also known as the Ravenel Bridge and the Cooper River Bridge) is a cable-stayed bridge over the Cooper River in South Carolina, US, connecting downtown Charleston to Mount Pleasant. The bridge has a main span ...

) to where the old interchange remnants and where I-26 ends (formally where the

John P. Grace Memorial Bridge The John P. Grace Memorial Bridge, or the Cooper River Bridge as it was familiarly known, was a cantilever bridge that crossed the Cooper River in Charleston, South Carolina. It opened on August 8, 1929, and was built by the Cooper River Bridge ...

and

Silas N. Pearman Bridge The Silas N. Pearman Bridge, known locally as the New Cooper River Bridge from the opening date to the groundbreaking of its replacement, was a cantilever bridge that crossed the Cooper River in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. It op ...

connected).

Services

The

South Carolina Department of Transportation The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) is a government agency in the US state of South Carolina. Its mission is to build and maintain roads and bridges and administer mass transit services. By state law, the SCDOT's function and ...

(SCDOT) operates and maintains one welcome center and seven rest areas along I-26. Welcome centers, which have a travel information facility on site, are located at milemarker 3 (eastbound); rest areas are located at milemarkers 63 (east and westbound), 123 (east and westbound), 150 (eastbound), 152 (westbound), and 204 (eastbound). Common at all locations are public restrooms, public telephones, vending machines, picnic area, and barbecue grills. The South Carolina Department of Public Safety (SCDPS) and State Transport Police (STP) operates and maintains three truck inspection/weigh stations. A westbound weigh station can be found at milemarker 93.5 in Chapin west of Columbia, and two others at milemarker 173 (eastbound) and milemarker 174 (westbound) in Harleyville east of the interchanges with I-95 and US 15.

History

Construction of I-26 began in 1957 in the Columbia area with the section from the Broad River to near Irmo. The section of I-26 from I-126/ US 76 in Columbia to US 176 at exit 97 was the first section of the highway to open up to traffic (on September 7, 1960). The section from

South Carolina Highway 210 South Carolina Highway 210 (SC 210) is a State highway (US), state highway in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The highway connects Branchville, South Carolina, Branchville, Bowman, South Carolina, Bowman, and Vance, South Carolina, Va ...

(SC 210) to

US 15 U.S. Route 15 (US 15) is a -long United States highway, designated along South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. The route is signed north–south, from U.S. Route 17 Alternate in Walterboro, South Car ...

opened in September 1962. Construction proceeded in stages heading both west up toward Greenville and east toward Charleston. The highway was largely completed from Columbia to North Charleston by 1964; the section from Aviation Avenue to the highway's terminus at US 17 in downtown Charleston progressed more slowly due to land takings for the right-of-way and numerous bridges and viaducts that had to be built. The entire of I-26 were completed by February 1969. In the 1980s–1990s, I-26 around Columbia was widened from four to six lanes. In the mid-1990s, the North Charleston area was also widened from four to six lanes, part of which was further widened to eight lanes in the early 2010s. In 2005, the US 17 was realigned to a new interchange with I-26 at exit 220 from exit 221; the old interchange was mostly torn down and reconfigured, leaving the I-26 viaduct eastbound offramp and westbound onramps with US 17 south. In the mid-2010s, I-26 was widened southeast of Columbia from I-77 to Old Sandy Run Road. Starting in 2019 or 2020, a long stretch of I-26 northwest of Columbia will begin widening construction from four to six lanes from SC 202 at Little Mountain to US 76/US 176 at Irmo. In 2011, a plan to add a lane in each direction between Broad River Road and Saint Andrews Road through "Malfunction Junction" had $8.5 million (equivalent to $ million in ) in funding but was expected to start sometime after 2012 and take two years. On October 5, 2016, I-26 had all lanes converted to westbound only, from I-77 to I-526, due to

Hurricane Matthew Hurricane Matthew was an extremely powerful Atlantic hurricane which caused catastrophic damage and a humanitarian crisis in Haiti, as well as widespread devastation in the southeastern United States. The deadliest Atlantic hurricane sinc ...

. This was done again on September 11, 2018, due to

Hurricane Florence Hurricane Florence was a powerful and long-lived Cape Verde hurricane that caused catastrophic damage in the Carolinas in September 2018, primarily as a result of freshwater flooding due to torrential rain. The sixth named storm, third h ...

, and in September 2019 for

Hurricane Dorian Hurricane Dorian was an extremely powerful and catastrophic Category 5 Atlantic hurricane, which became the most intense tropical cyclone on record to strike the Bahamas, and tied for strongest landfall in the Atlantic basin. It is also reg ...

. On November 19, 2016, construction began in Charleston to demolish, reconfigure, and replace exits 217 and 218, related to a new access road to the Hugh K. Leatherman Sr. Terminal; the interchange was opened on February 23, 2021. On October 18, 2018,

SCDOT The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) is a government agency in the US state of South Carolina. Its mission is to build and maintain roads and bridges and administer mass transit services. By state law, the SCDOT's function and ...

approved widening I-26 between Columbia and Charleston. SCDOT plans to widen I-26 from Old Sandy Run Road in

Calhoun County Calhoun County is the name of several counties in the United States of America named after U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun: * Calhoun County, Alabama * Calhoun County, Arkansas * Calhoun County, Florida * Calhoun County, Georgia * Calhoun Cou ...

to Ridgeville Road ( SC 27) in Berkeley County.

Future

I-20/I-126 interchange

The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT), in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), is proposing improvements to the Interstate corridor of I-20/I-26/I-126, including the system interchanges at I-20/I-26 and I-26/I-126 in Lexington and Richland Counties. These improvements are proposed to increase mobility and enhance traffic operations by reducing existing traffic congestion within the I-20/I-26/I-126 corridor, while accommodating future traffic needs. The corridor's approximately of mainline Interstate include I-26 from exit 101 (Broad River Road/US 176) to east of the Saluda River, I-20 from the west of the Saluda River to west of the Broad River, and I-126 from I-26 to east of the interchange with Colonial Life Boulevard.

Auxiliary routes

I-26 in South Carolina has two extant and one former auxiliary route. I-126 in Columbia and I-526 in Charleston are

spur route A spur route is a short road forming a branch from a longer, more important road such as a freeway, Interstate Highway, or motorway. A bypass or beltway should not be considered a true spur route as it typically reconnects with another or the s ...

s in their respective cities. I-326 was an unsigned designation that was decommissioned and is now part of I-77 in Columbia.

Exit list

References

External links