I-526 Corridor Analysis Project

SCDOT's Corridor Analysis for I-526 between North Charleston and West Ashley Project Website

The Corridor Analysis for I-526 between North Charleston and West Ashley examines an eight-mile segment of Interstate between Rivers Avenue and US 17 in West Ashley, including the system-to-system interchange of I-526 and I-26. If you live in the Charleston region or travel through the area on a regular basis, it is likely you are familiar with the high traffic volume along this corridor and its considerable congestion during the weekday AM and PM peak periods. Future traffic volumes are expected to increase considerably with several large developments planned in the area, including the construction and opening of a Boeing Dreamliner Plant, a new airline and renovations at the regional airport, and the expansion of the South Carolina State Ports Authority in North Charleston.

The study team's primary tasks are to gather baseline information about the corridor and to solicit ideas for reducing today's traffic and meeting tomorrow's needs. All options received from the public will be initially considered including:

• Travel Demand Management - Alternatives to either reduce the overall travel in the corridor or spreading the peak travel demand to off-peak periods.
• Modal Strategies - Investigate opportunities to shift vehicle or truck travel to other modes of travel, such as transit or rail.
• Traffic Operations Strategies - Relatively low cost improvements to improve the efficiency of traffic flow.
• Capacity Improvements - Projects that add highway capacity to the network of roads.

Feasible ideas will then be studied and evaluated with traffic analyses, travel demand modeling, and corridor geometric evaluations. By the conclusion of this study, alternatives will be identified and evaluated not only for near term, low-cost strategies, but also for more costly future-year capacity strategies.