MAJOR PALMETTO TRANSPORTATION ARTERIES SHUT DOWN BY CRASHES
|| By FITSNEWS || It’s been a bad week for motorists in the Palmetto State … and we’re not just talking about ongoing efforts to raise their taxes (by any means necessary).
A pair of wrecks in Charleston and Columbia this week caused major disruptions in traffic – although thankfully no lives appear to have been lost in either accident.
The first accident took place Tuesday on the Arthur Ravenel, Jr. bridge – which carries U.S. Highway 17 over the Cooper River between Charleston and Mount Pleasant, S.C. What happened? A woman attempting to change lanes slammed into a tanker truck on the bridge around 11:00 a.m. EDT – causing a nine-hour shutdown of the landmark structure.
Meanwhile early Wednesday morning just outside of Columbia, S.C., another tractor trailer carrying 8,500 gallons of fuel was involved in a ten-car pileup on a heavily-trafficked Interstate at around 5:30 a.m. EDT.
That wreck – which occurred in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 26 a few miles northwest of the state capital – shut down one of the state’s busiest transportation arteries for several hours. Fire from the wreck was so intense it spilled over into the westbound lanes – badly damaging the roadway.
Seven hours after the crash, the westbound lanes were finally reopened – although the eastbound lanes remained closed.
The cause of that accident remains under investigation …
44 comments
I-26 in the area of the Columbia accident is one very dangerous stretch to drive on. Its a mess due to, among other things, it only being two narrow lanes, on-going very slow progressing road construction, very heavy and rude aggressive drivers who are not even native South Carolinians. We simply do not have enough traffic enforcement anymore on our interstates. People commonly speed well over 20 mph above the limit. They should be put in jail for a few days. It will send the message to others who driving like morons on our roads.
Nope,
The problem is too many fucking tractor trailers on the road.
Whether tractor trailers are at fault or not (from what I understand they are not the majority of the time) it is a total mess for hours and hours
Cars and tractor trailers don’t mix and from what I have read the percentage of tractor trailers on the road will increase over the next few years.
More shit needs to be moved by rail
You don’t see this kind of shit on the German autobahn. I’ve drover all over Germany when I was in the military and you could go for days without seeing an accident and you hardly ever saw the “Polizi” either.
The F—- tractor trailers PAY for the roads. Take your little ass 4 wheelers and drive on dirt roads. Most accidents involving Tractor trailers and cars are a result of a mistake by the less experienced driver in the car.
Truck drivers used to be the best on the road, but that was 30 years ago. Today, they tailgate and speed and talk on their cell phones with one hand to ear at the same time…at least, that’s what I see before ALL I see in my rear view mirror is their grill.
Nitrat, I usually consider you an idiot, but you are right on the money with this comment.
Truckers have become obese telephone talkers that are lazy, poor drivers and ill groomed to boot.
The professional trucker is a thing of the past.
True!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love your wisdom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Number 1: I stand by what I post – more shit needs to be hauled by railroads and pipelines. Like somebody posted about this article, truckers ain’t the “knights of the road” like they used to be
Number 2: EVERYBODY that operates a licensed vehicle on the roads of the Great State of South Carolina PAYS for fucking roads via numerious taxes and fees so you are talking out your self-smug self righteous ass.
Number 3: I’ve seen your vaulted SC Highway Patrol drive right past people broke down on the highway or during snow storms.
Number 4: I respect the law but I ain’t a cop ass kisser like you.
Amen, again.
It makes my day when I hit a nerve. Thanks. There was a time when truckers were a lot better than they are today. You can blame govt. for that too. I was on my way to Charlotte the night Jimmy Carter de regulated the trucking industry. It has gone down hill ever since. There are some uses for govt. As mush as I hate to admit it. Fuel went up , cost of trucks went up , insurance went up, but freight rates went down. Guess who suffered ? Drivers. Now the independent trucker has to bid on runs over the internet. The profit margins are razor thin and the families are the ones that suffer. That is the big reason there are 30,000 drivers needed in the USA right now.
So…………
Because Carter reduced government (which conservatives like you (and independents like myself who espouse efficient government at all levels) by deregulation of airlines,telephone and the trucking industry back in the 70’s you are now saying government should have a bigger say concerning the United States transportation system??
It’s just the free market at work – which conservatives like yourself should not oppose.
I’m saying the number of trucks on the road greatly contribute to the number of wrecks that tie up the interstates for hours on end and are responsible for just about every damn HAZMAT response on the roadways (even if they are not a fault on numerous occassions).
One way to lessen that situation is greater use of the railways and pipelines for the shit that trucks haul. Hell maybe they will come up with a high speed ocean freighters for the JIT supply model.
JIT for inventory is the big thing anyway (has been for what–20 years???
it ain’t rocket science=====more trucks on the interstates plus even more automobiles results in daily fuck-ups across the nation.
Physics and the laws of average at work – plain and simple
I personally favor no longer letting cars on the roads paid for by the tractor Trailers.Then again,if you did that,no one would be able to go shopping to buy the things tractor trailers deliver.Then, there would be no more tractor trailers ,thus no more roads because there wouldn’t be anybody to pay for them.
Vote For Ted Cruz!
In germany only the rich can afford to drive because of fuel taxes. Not a solution.
That’s bullshit – plain and simple.
Obviously you haven’t spent much time in Germany
What a stupid post.
Amen.
Last year I had occasion to be coming into Cola around midnight several times from the upstate. There was a lone trooper that was stopping speeders almost every night around malfunction junction. He would have one stopped and twenty or thirty would whizz by while he was writing one ticket. My rider and I agreed he was trying but was overwhelmed. It had to be frustrating.
The interchange, and the road are of poor design. Not the troopers fault, not the drivers fault. Too many entrance and exit point on three interstates and multiple surface streets all with in less than 1 mile of each other. This interchange NEEDS to be multi-level with collector and distributor roads.
Stop sucking off the government titty and apply for a job at SCDOT.
I’m too fucking old. At 81, I damn well know what’s wrong, and the seat of stupidity faces Main Street at Gervais. I am also “retired” from SC Gov., and they won’t let us real thinkers come back “on board” because we disagreed, sometimes vehemently, with the powers that be. Some of us never “sucked off the government tit”. We (many) of us just wanted things to be done right, and we suffered “push out” or “forced retirement” because we didn’t kiss ass — anywhere, or anybody.
I was talking to Joe Wilson a while back about Malfunction Junction. I said he needed to spearhead a bypass from above Chapin across Lake Murray and meet up with I77 on the south side of Cola. I said we could call it the Wilson Connector. LOL
LOL.
At one time SC-277 was supposed to connect up with I-126, I believe SCDOT still owns most of the land to make this happen, but the whiners in the Cotton Town neighborhood in Columbia ascended to political power and it never happened because of NIMBY. That would have taken tons of pressure off of Malfunction Junction. In my not so humble opinion they should have used part of the old state hospital grounds for this if building it through Cotton Town was not acceptable. This would have been a better use than the baseball stadium and the historic properties could still be conserved. So much for logic, common sense and the ability to read a map.
They speed 20+ MPH over the limit on 2 lane US 521 between Manning and Andrews trying to get back and forth to The Beach.
Speed is not the problem. Idiots not moving with traffic are. There is no reason a properly designed interstate should have speed limits lower than 70. Anyone who thinks that is too fast is too old for driving on interstates.
Properly designed. There’s the problem. In no way, shape, form or fashion are I-20/I-26/I-126 and the surface street interchanges in that area properly designed.
You are exactly right. The moron going twenty miles over OR under the posted limit are the problem. How many times have I seen some old fart going 55 in a 70 zone ? traffic backing up people in too big a hurry doing stupid things to get around so they can be about their business.
Stop talking about yourself.
If you don’t have maximum uninsured and underinsured motorist insurance coverage driving around this state, you need to see your agent ASAP.
+10!
Two Tanker accidents…. The Palmetto Pipeline would reduce the number of tanker-miles on our roads.
Benefits:
1. Fewer accidents.
4. Fewer spills
3. Fewer injuries
4. Fewer traffic delays
5. Less carbon emmissions
Good point; although it is not exactly fair to list all the benefits and ignore the potential negative repercussions.
you must not be familiar with politcs
I learn from Will. Unfair, imbalanced
No. You’re just a pecker jerk who never was really successful at being a bully.
You only comment when I say something about Will.
Hello Will. Just a reminder. State unemployment data was released today. You need an article on it.
Still hearing voices in your head? And get your own website, bitch.
Insurgency! But I want yours. If you don’t cover the SC jobs data, I will in a comment.
i woke up at 5:55am went outside and saw a huge “black cloud” on eastern horizon. very ominous. apocalyptic. it was this black smoke i just discovered. thanks for info. for once this site has served useful not just appealing to and aimed at exploiting the ignorances and weaknesses of men.
Took vacation because the roads were impassable. Our road system is an abomination. We need to stop throwing money away bribing companies to come here when we can’t even keep the traffic moving. Whoever caused this accident deserves to be sued by everyone who lost money today. Commuter lives matter.
Let me suggest something to you, Mr. Fat Ass Big Government Spender.
How about you and the other chronic complainers stop getting in the car every time you get bored. Start car pooling. Start walking and riding your bike. Start auto deposit on you banking and ordering stuff off the net. How about you drive 25% less than you do, and get your big spending buddies to do the same. How about put your flabby ass in a bus or a train and stay the hell out of my wallet.
I made up my mind to drive less and cut my driving by 30% and don’t notice it except I spend a hell of a lot less on gas and my car is going to last a lot longer.
So if you and gas guzzling fat assed buddies quit putting your hand in my wallet, and quit taking up so much space on the roads, our road problems would be behind us.
Well said.
A conservationist conserves, except in America, where they try to make everyone else conserve as they drive everywhere in SUV or fly in private jets.
Americans don’t have to live in their cars, but we choose to.
What the fuck are you talking about, gramps. Put your reading glasses on. GET OFF MY LAWN is not a Transportation policy.
I was working in Charleston…that Ravenel bridge thing was NUTS. Although it murdered my commute home, I did take some solace in watching simpletons have full-on breakdowns because traffic was backed up everywhere. I took the 3-hour, 35 mph scenic route back to the Redneck Riviera through Summerville, Moncks Corner, Jamestown, and Geoergetown. Horrible…
I will never forget Fall of 1999–cadet at The Citadel–ordered home because of Hurricane Floyd.
I left Moultrie St gates around 2pm. Arrived in Columbia approximately 19 hours later. That was NUTS!
cerebral-rectal inversion at its finest