Which city and interstate in SC has the worst traffic?

[motonenterprises]

I can personally only speak for Greenville since thats the area I'm in. Coming from BMW today around 6 pm traffic came to a complete halt right before exit 57. This is an everyday event! Was stop and go my whole trip to the 85 385 interchange. This has to be one of if not the worst in the state as far as congestion on the interstate. Feel free to comment.

[distortedlogic]

Funny, I have been thinking about adding a similar thread. I am not sure about this. Greenville does have the daily backup on 85 between the airport and Woodruff road. But that is about the worst part. 385 is pretty smooth sailing now with the expansion. I was talking to friend who is living in Cola right now, he says that the stretch on I20 between the 77 merge and 26 merge is like a parking lot during afternoon rush. In my limited experience, cola does seem to have a good dose of traffic during rush. I really have very little knowledge of Charleston's traffic, though I hear 26 can get pretty rough. I am not sure there is a lot of noticeable difference among the big three. I am going to wait to vote on this one until I read some more info. On the surface I would say Cola because it's three interstates lead to many more passers through than Greenville's one and Chas' none (interstates going through, not to). But I would also say that the upstate is much more spread out than the cola metro or the chas beach hugging metro. There are many other roads in the upstate that relieve traffic from the interstates. Can you imagine if all the rush traffic on 29 between greenville and sptg were all on 85? Yikes! Of course the gville metro pop is over one million, but it is more spread out, with three pricipal cities, not one. Chas is probably the densest metro and has only one interstate that goes into it, so I would imagine it is pretty packed at times. So I'm not sure yet.

[knightrider162]

I'd have to say Charleston on this one.... It becomes a parking lot between I26/I526 to college park road a lot of the times, the worse part though is that it's not just the interstates, every road in northern North Charleston, Mt. Pleasant and West ashley stay packed with the obsesive growth and such..

[krazeeboi]

It would either be Greenville or Charleston--although Columbia isn't immune to bad traffic either. But a good grid system downtown, 3 interstates, and a spur do help.

[Spartan]

26 in Charleston becomes a real bottleneck at 526. But then Columbia has Malfunction Junction, which is nearly stopped every day.

Its really hard to say. I've experienced each city in rush hour, and they are all about the same really. Charleston may have the edge just because of that bottleneck, and that there are so few roads crossing between West Ashley/Mount Pleasant/North Charleston/Downtown.

[Spartan]

Spartanburg's rush hour can be annoying, but it really depends on where you are going. If you're on 85 traffic is heavy, but moving... and if it stops you have the old 85 as an option most of the time. Going towards Boiling Spings is the worst. Overall we have a pretty good road system for commuters.

[sonofaque86]

Columbia has bad traffic at times but I don't think it's the worst due to our 3 major interstates...I-26 at rush hour is redundant...Don't even think about moving. It'll take 45-50 minutes to get to the mall from downtown when it's only 10 minute drive. And add on the accidents that happen on 26 every other day. Beside I-26 that interstate traffic in Columbia is a DREAM!

If you're not taking the interstate system in Cola then Broad River and Harbison are a different story. Broad River traffic in the morning and at 5 is plain up stupid. And Harbison traffic is always crazy. Hardscrabble Rd. is sickning too.

I can't comment on the worst traffic because in the other cities because I usually don't visit them but Spartanburg, and I've never really seen bad traffic there.

[BrasilnSC]

I think the Big 3 are all about the same. They all have their bad interstate junctions: Columbia I-126/I-26/I-20, Charleston I-26/I-526, and Greenville I-85/I-385. I've maily experienced Columbia rush hour and it's always stop and go at malfunction juction. As for Greenville and Charleston, I've watched the traffic cameras and it gets pretty heavy too at these spots.

Other roads that are a complete mess, Broad River and Woodruff Rd

[monsoon]

The worst highway in the state for traffic, though it is not an interstate, is Hwy 501 going into Myrtle Beach.

[goodbye]

I'm going with Charleston because I've experienced it more there, though I agree with monsoon about the rediculous backups on 501 near Myrtle Beach. I-85 in Greenville is pretty heavy at all times of the day, but it flows smoothly until morning and evening rush hours, and if there is an accident. I-385 is crazy because of so many suburbanites commuting north and south through the construction zones in Simpsonville. I-185 is never backed up, because it doesn't carry enough daily commuters along the toll portion. In the Upstate it seems more clear everyday that some form of mass transit or LRT is becoming a necessity. People commute over greater distances to reach destinations.

[803metlife]

I would have to go with Columbia. From downtown to Harbinson is crazy.Three lanes of madness!! I-77 also has terrible traffic.

[Infinite1]

I can't speak on Greenvill, but Charleston has much worse traffic than Columbia, IMO. The bottelnecks are are there on the interstates in each city. What makes Charleston more frustrating to me, is the lack of options to circumvent congested areas. I can navigate backroads all throughut Columbia, but in Charleston there are no backroads, per se. If you are going to the north area, you have Rivers, Dorchester or I-26, thats pretty much it. To MT Pleasant, I-526 and US17, thats it. West Ashley US17, 526, Cosgrove. THere are options in West Ashley to take some less traveledd routes, but the area as a whole is constricted in terms of alternative routes.

[MikesLogic]

Definitely Charleston if not only for the limited options to get in and out of town, they are all backed up during rush hours.

[adrockc2]

I work for traffic.com. We provide current traffic conditions for about 40 cities and sell the information to media clients. While we do not service any city in SC, one of our biggest competitors MSN does provide traffic information for Greenville. I have looked at these reports on occasion and let me tell you, the amount of accidents during daily rush hours in Greenville are insane. In turn congestion is always fairly heavy during these time periods. My vote is for GVL.

[Spartan]

True, but Greenville is part of the largest metro in SC, so it will be the first to appear on sites like that. Its the same reason that Greenville is on the Weather Channel. 1 million plus

[smithc57]

I-20 West Bound during 5 oclock traffic from Northeast Columbia to Broad River can be backed up for miles at times. I-20 West Bound during 8oclock traffic going is thick also.

[SpartanTS]

I-20 West Bound during 5 oclock traffic from Northeast Columbia to Broad River can be backed up for miles at times. I-20 West Bound during 8oclock traffic going is thick also.

I'm gonna have to say Spartanburg. I-26 & I-85 is a parking lot 5 days a week.... I kid, I kid.

I'd have to say Columbia, particularly Malfunction Junction during rush hour.

[Charleston native]

I-20 West Bound during 5 oclock traffic from Northeast Columbia to Broad River can be backed up for miles at times. I-20 West Bound during 8oclock traffic going is thick also.

I know my hometown has bad traffic, but I've found that for the amount of roads Chas has, traffic is not that bad. IMO, Cola has the worst traffic, especially for the size it is with the amount of roads and interstates that go through it. Cola's UA is just slightly less than Chas with 3 interstates going through and around it, yet I encounter more traffic on my commute from I-20 and Clemson Road to SC 277 heading into town, for example. Then you have Malfunction Junction, intersecting with I-26 as mentioned by SpartanTS. Also, try navigating through the city on Bull Street and Elmwood Avenue during most of the day.