Aside from the trains and cutting through the neighborhood, the morning drive to Academic Magnet poses a lot of other challenges as well. Both interstates, I-26 and I-526, that feed Magnet often become backed up, held up by traffic accidents that leave traffic at a standstill. Fortunately, the location of the hold-up often allows me to go around it. 

Traffic on Beginning of I-26: If traffic backs up at the base of I-26, or rather has backed up through all of I-26, then I generally find it faster to completely avoid the traffic by not taking I-26. It is important to note that this route only works if you have access to downtown or take the Ravenel bridge on the way to school. If you are on the Ravenel Bridge and you find out about heavy traffic on I-26, you should quickly turn off to the Meeting Street exit. Then you should turn right down Meeting Street. If you have access to downtown or live downtown, then you should also head down Meeting Street away from downtown. If you follow Meeting Street, it will split into Meeting Street and Spruill Avenue. You should turn right at the split, continuing down Spruill Avenue. Fortunately, it is a simple route as you only have to follow Spruill Avenue to its completion as it intersects with East Montague. On East Montague, you can follow turn right and follow your everyday route to Mixson Avenue and to school.

Traffic on the Latter Part of I-26: This is a new route I have recently discovered. It is a pretty drive and roughly the same time as taking I-26 normally, so it is faster if there is any traffic on I-26. I like it so much because it takes you over a new bridge that they just finished constructing, and being alone on the bridge makes you feel like you are in an empty city. On I-26, across from Rosemont Field, there is a recently built bridge that connects I-26 to the port. If there is traffic past this point on I-26, then I highly recommend turning right on this bridge. It takes you next to Shipyard Creek and reminds me of a bridge in Tampa. As the bridge connects with Forest Sherman Drive, you should get off the bridge and turn left. Forest Sherman Drive quickly connects with Stromboli Avenue, which you should turn right on. You can follow this quickly until it connects with Spruill Avenue. From Spruill Avenue, you can continue on the route I discussed previously: continuing down Spruill Avenue, turning onto East Montague, and following it onto Mixson Avenue.

Traffic on the End of I-26: More often than not, any traffic on I-26 will exist on the straightaway that borders the train track as you approach Magnet going west on I-26. It is incredibly infuriating as it is the very last mile of I-26 that often doubles the time of the trip. Cars move quickly down the straight away which leads to a higher than normal number of wrecks, contributing to why it is so frequently backed up. Additionally, a frequent number of exits after this straightaway is also likely a reason the straight-away quickly becomes so backed up. Either way, this frequently is a problem that you will face driving to school on I-26. In order to avoid this traffic, I encourage you to turn right to the exit that approaches Dorchester Road. You should turn right on Dorchester Road, following it until you reach Rivers Avenue. You should turn left onto Rivers Avenue, which you should follow until you reach Durant Avenue. From here you can follow the route I outlined in my previous article. You should turn right onto Durant Avenue. For reference, the intersection of Durant Avenue and Rivers Avenue is bordered by a notable, large shopping mall. The corner of the shopping center has a Quik Stop and the building directly across from it on the other side of Durant Avenue is a Save A Lot. If you turn right onto Durant Avenue, you can turn onto Mixson Avenue on the left. This takes you through a tight street bordered by apartments but you should have plenty of room no matter what type of car you drive, even though it is tight with parked cars on the right and a barrier in the middle. You can follow this street as it approaches the school.

Traffic on I-526: On I-526, traffic is quick to back up. Wrecks are all too often and many find themselves forced to drive around to the I-26 route to school. The road itself is faced with a simple problem: there are too many people for the roads. This of course could be applied to nearly every South Carolina road but is particularly applicable to I-526. It is only made worse by the fact that there aren’t many ways to get around the traffic so you are just stuck. However, there is one route that does make it easier to get to school from I-526. The exit to North Rhett Avenue, which is generally the exit taken to school, is quick to back up down I-526. So, sometimes I find it faster to continue down I-526 to the Rivers Avenue exit. This is more so a last resort but it can be particularly effective in avoiding traffic if the North Rhett exit is very backed up. You should turn southbound on Rivers Avenue. From there you can continue down Rivers Avenue until you reach Durant Avenue. You can now follow the route I have outlined in my previous suggested routes. You turn left on Durant Avenue and left on Mixson Avenue. You follow Mixson through the apartment complex and the intersection with East Montague as it approaches the road on which the school is located. You can always turn straight onto East Montague from Rivers Avenue as well but then you run the risk of a train. 

All of these routes are meant to shorten your morning commute to school. They, in no way, should infringe on your safety or should encourage you to take drives you aren’t necessarily comfortable with. Please oblige by all speed limits and other traffic laws, taking care to drive carefully and avoid accidents.