Sharing the Road Community Meeting Session 1

The Sharing the Road project team has developed draft program, policy, and project recommendations aimed at making our roadways safer, and we want to share them with you at a second round of public open houses on Tuesday, May 12^th!

These draft recommendations are built upon the input we received in October and November at meetings and via our online survey and interactive map, coupled with best practices and crash data-driven findings. In addition to sharing more systemic recommendations to address roadway safety, we will be sharing a High Injury Network map, as well as some conceptual ideas for potential safety-related improvements along roadway segments and intersections located within the High Injury Network.

Ways to Engage:

• Attend a community meeting! Meetings will be a drop-in format, and provide an opportunity to engage directly with the project team and review the systemic and location-specific draft recommendations.
  • Tuesday, May 12^th from 11AM – 1PM and 4PM – 6PM at Virginia Bedford Community Center, Earlewood Park, 1113 Recreation Drive, Columbia SC 29203
• Learn more via the project website: https://planninganddevelopment.columbiasc.gov/safe-streets/
• Sign up to receive email updates regarding multimodal transportation planning + events: https://forms.columbiasc.gov/243375701335858
• Stay tuned for a project survey – to be released subsequent to the May 12^th meetings through June 9^th!

About the Selected Roadway Segments + Intersections

With the development of our High Injury Network map, we were grateful to note that a number of our partners are already working to address safety concerns for all users along a number of these key corridors. As the selection of locations for conceptual design is a part of the planning process, the project team worked to select locations which were not being otherwise addressed but posed a more pressing safety concern and complexity of design. These projects are conceptual and do not have funding allocated at this time. Your local knowledge can help inform this process, and the resulting project recommendations can help position the City and our partner agencies to make future funding requests. Locations we’ll be discussing are:

Intersections

• Beltline Blvd at Two Notch Rd
• Covenant Rd at N. Beltline Blvd + Pine Belt Rd
• Elmwood Ave at Main St
• Laurel St at Huger St
• River Dr at Sunset Dr

Segments

• Academy/W. Beltline (I-277 – Two Notch)
• Elmwood Ave (I-126 – Bull)
• Farrow Rd (Beltline Blvd to Chappelle)
• Huger St / Whaley St (I-126 – Wayne)
• Two Notch Rd (Taylor/Forest – Cushman/Pine Belt)

About the Planning Effort:

Sharing the Road will analyze the safety issues faced by all road users, from our more vulnerable users, like pedestrians and cyclists, to transit riders and personal and commercial vehicle operators. This planning process is partially funded by and aligns with the USDOT Safe Streets and Roads for All program. The process and resulting plan will:

• Result in an official public commitment that establishes a target date to significantly reduce roadway fatalities and serious injuries.
• Identify the City’s High Injury Network through the analysis of crash data and public input.
• Build on prior planning efforts like Walk Bike Columbia and Columbia Compass while focusing specifically on how to improve roadway safety for all users.
• Identify systemic and specific safety needs + priority projects for the City and partner agencies to collaborate on moving forward.
• Align with the USDOT Safe Streets and Roads For All program, which is partially funding this effort. The resulting plan document will also position the City for future potential grant funding.