Monday, May 20, 2013

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Dangerous Section of I-26 gets safety improvements
Posted: 02.15.2013 at 2:39 PM
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The state Department of Transportation is moving ahead with a $5 million plan to improve safety on a dangerous stretch of Interstate 26.  / FILE
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CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- The state Department of Transportation is moving ahead with a $5 million plan to improve safety on a dangerous stretch of Interstate 26.

The plan announced Friday calls for improvements from near Interstate 95 east to Summerville.

The plan includes clearing all trees from the median and putting up a cable guard rail between the travel lanes. There is 25 feet of land from the travel lanes to the trees. The improvements would give motorists 46 feet to the guard rail.

The idea is to reduce fatalities caused by motorists running off the road.

Between January of 2007 and November 2011 there were almost 2,000 crashes on the section of interstate causing 44 deaths and 709 injuries.

I-26 runs from Charleston northwest past Spartanburg and into North Carolina.

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