Through West Columbia, the highway has a mix of at-grade intersections (including one at SC 35) and interchanges (with 9th Street and US 378).

It crosses the Congaree River on the Jefferson Davis McMahan Bridge headed into downtown Columbia.

North and east of downtown Columbia, the route runs next to Fort Jackson and parallel to I-77 then I-20.

The first version ran from the 5th Street Bridge at the Georgia-South Carolina state line near Augusta, Georgia, to Aiken, Leesville, and Lexington, South Carolina before ending in West Columbia.

Past I-77, the road name becomes Strom Thurmond Boulevard and ends at Fort Jackson's Gate 2.