roads and highways

Gov. Henry McMaster and transportation officials say the state should use $360 million of its federal pandemic relief funds to jumpstart the widening of Interstate 26. The state already plans to expand parts of the 70-mile stretch between Columbia and Charleston. But officials say an influx of cash would speed up the process by six years and help save the state money in construction costs. The heavily-trafficked corridor has seen regular accidents and delays as motorists mingle with trucks taking goods to and from the Port of Charleston. Lawmakers will likely decide whether to include the I-26 project in the state's $2.5 billion share of federal COVID-19 money this fall.

Interstate 16 is the main route used by many people from metro Atlanta who travel south from the city to Macon, and then use I-16 to get to Savannah and Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. The bridge is about 150 miles (240 kilometers) southeast of Atlanta.

The tax paid on a gallon of gasoline in the state increases by two cents this July 1 putting it at just under 27 cents-per- gallon. It marks the fifth year of a six year, phased-in 12 cents a gallon increase in the gas tax to generate more money for highway and bridge improvements.

South Carolina will spend $642 million repaving roads through the end of 2022, the state Department of Transportation said.

The five major interstate highways that crisscross South Carolina are part of its social and economic lifeblood. Since 1982, when Ronald Reagan was…