'Malfunction Junction' improvement project shelved - wistv.com - Columbia, South Carolina |

For about a year and a half, it looked like the interstate jungle unaffectionately known to drivers as "Malfunction Junction" might be on its way to receiving a much-needed facelift, but according to transportation officials, the project has been shelved.

It may be a surprise to some that capital city commuters actually have something to brag about. Most, though, don't choose to boast the painful reality that they travel through the state's most congested interstate corridor. That's right, Malfunction Junction, and its surrounding interstate lanes, is the worst interchange in the state.

So, in early 2011 when the South Carolina Department of Transportation put out a call for public comment on widening a portion of I-26 near its intersection with I-20 northeast of downtown Columbia, the reality of some sort of fix looked possible. There was even $8.5 million identified in the fiscal year budget to pay for design work on the project.

The plan, at that time, was to add extra lanes on I-26 starting at Broad River Road and ending near St. Andrews Road. The two-year widening project would have added a lane on both sides of the interstate. Also in the works was a carpool lane from Malfunction Junction to Broad River Road.

Public meetings about the project were to start sometime in 2012, but never materialized and the project was halted before it even started. 

Mark Lester, SCDOT Planning and Environmental Director, said the I-26 project "lost its momentum" because there's no money for the design or construction. "The need far exceeds what [funding] we've got available," said Lester.

To those who control transit projects in South Carolina it's been clear for years that something needs to be done to help alleviate traffic in the area. Money has been the key roadblock.

Lester said it is possible that planners may find a way to make "targeted improvements," such as ramp enhancements, along the corridor, but nothing has been planned.

"How do we make the best use of the limited funding that we do have available to us?" said Lester. That's a question he and other transit planners hope to tackle when they embark upon a major mission to update the state's long-range transit plan.

Lester said the first meeting of a group of people who will start that process takes place next week in Columbia. Among those stakeholders invited are Department of Commerce officials, representatives from municipalities and planning commissions across the state, and port authority representatives.

The group will gather to start deciding how future funding will be spent on prospective transit projects including roadways, rail, and freight movement.

Included in the comprehensive long-range plan will likely be ways to start improving I-26 and I-20 near Malfunction Junction, but Lester said the DOT can't predict what's going to happen in the future.

For now drivers will have to continue to deal with the traffic, accidents, and delays that come with traveling the most congested section of the state's interstate system.

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