Interstate 26 (South Carolina)
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| Route information | |
| Maintained by SCDOT | |
| Length: | 220.7 mi (355.2 km) |
| Existed: | 1960 – present |
| Major junctions | |
| West end: |
 I‑26 at the NC line near Landrum
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 I-85 near Spartanburg I-385 in Clinton I-20 near Columbia I-126 in Columbia I-77 in Cayce I-95 near Holly Hill I-526 in North Charleston
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| East end: |
 US 17 in Charleston
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| Location | |
| Counties: | Spartanburg, Laurens, Newberry, Richland, Lexington, Calhoun, Orangeburg, Dorchester, Berkeley, Charleston |
| Highway system | |
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Interstate 26 (I-26) is a South Carolina Interstate highway running generally east–west from near Landrum, in Spartanburg County, to U.S. Route 17, in Charleston, South Carolina. It is also the longest interstate highway in South Carolina.
I-26 runs 220 miles through South Carolina. Mile markers run from west (north) to east (south). Mile Marker 0 is in the mountains at the NC 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 70-mile-per-hour (110 km/h) 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, where it intersects I-85 to Greenville and Charlotte. As the interstate weaves along the terrain, it reaches Clinton; where westbound travelers can connect with I-385 towards Greenville. Traveling through the Sumter National Forest, it connects with Newberry before entering the Midlands. At Columbia in a section known as "", it connects with I-20, to Augusta and Florence, and I-126 towards the downtown area; it then goes south over the Saluda River and into Lexington County for the second of eventually four times along its course. At Cayce, it connects with I-77 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, to Savannah and Florence. As it enters the relatively flat plains of the Lowcountry, the area becomes urbanized as the interstate encroaches upon North Charleston and Charleston. As the interstate curves through the peninsula formed by the Ashley and Cooper 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) to where the old interchange remnants and where I-26 ends (formally where the John P. Grace Memorial Bridge and Silas N. Pearman Bridge connected).
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Wikipedia