Abstract: The return airway of the 1307 working face in Tianshuibao Coal Mine is a typical three-soft coal seam roadway. Under the original support conditions, issues such as roof fragmentation and subsidence, mesh cracking and bulging, rib spalling and coal wall deformation, as well as floor heave were observed, severely impacting the safe production of the working face. This study employs multiple research methods, including numerical simulations, theoretical analysis and orthogonal experiment, to reveal the deformation characteristics of the three-soft roadway, which are most severe in the high side, followed by the low side and floor, and least in the roof. The failure mechanisms of the roadway were analyzed. By combining orthogonal experiments and numerical simulations, an optimized roadway reinforcement scheme was determined and validated through industrial trials. The results show that the reinforcement scheme significantly reduces the displacement of the surrounding rock and mitigates the deformation and failure conditions of the roadway surrounding rock.