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As I understood it, it would eventually be a belt way (circular road) around the whole city and some 10 miles or so outside I26.
Example, one going West on I26 (from Charleston) would exit I26 at which now is I77, north on I77, cross over I20, a bit further up I77 would be say I526 which one would take West and rejoin I26 out past Irmo. This would be say the northern loop of the I526 beltway. I26 to I77 to I526 to I26.
Kind of like I295 around Richmond VA. Then eventually like I495 around Washington DC.
I do not expect any of us to ever see such as traffic volume does not warrant such. Same as one should not build 12 lane roads to handle AM and PM rush hours as the 12 lanes would sit unused about 18 hours a day. It would be a total waste of money.
That wouldn't be practical for people traveling through Columbia (e.g. Greenville-Charleston), adding about 20 miles to their trip. It would take some pressure off Malfunction Junction from those traveling from the Northeast to Irmo.
When I said that building a beltway to relieve I-26 would displace a ton of residents and businesses, I thought people were talking about building a freeway to the west of I-26 through Lexington and Irmo.
That wouldn't be practical for people traveling through Columbia (e.g. Greenville-Charleston), adding about 20 miles to their trip. It would take some pressure off Malfunction Junction from those traveling from the Northeast to Irmo.
When I said that building a beltway to relieve I-26 would displace a ton of residents and businesses, I thought people were talking about building a freeway to the west of I-26 through Lexington and Irmo.
Jon
Yes beltways can be longer in mileage but in almost all case it takes much less time then going thru the city. Been there. Done that.
Yes beltways can be longer in mileage but in almost all case it takes much less time then going thru the city. Been there. Done that.
In this case, I don't believe it would. Unless you hit Malfunction Junction at 5:00 on a particularly bad day, I can't see it taking a half hour to get from I-26 at I-77 to wherever the northern leg of a beltway would meet I-26. Furthermore, the beltway wouldn't necessarily be void of slowdowns at that time either.
In this case, I don't believe it would. Unless you hit Malfunction Junction at 5:00 on a particularly bad day, I can't see it taking a half hour to get from I-26 at I-77 to wherever the northern leg of a beltway would meet I-26. Furthermore, the beltway wouldn't necessarily be void of slowdowns at that time either.
Jon
I agree with you and keep in mind that I consider traffic here to be sissy traffic. Also that the money it would require to build a beltway cannot be justified at this time nor in the immediate future.
Now if one wants to get ahead of the curve, another issue.
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