Columbia, South Carolina – Calhoun Street has undergone significant changes from Wayne to Gregg in order to make the area more secure and convenient to get around. This represents the start of a new era for the area. The recent completion of this project introduced resurfacing, restriping, and the addition of bike accommodations, transforming the way residents and visitors navigate the area.
Several major changes made on Calhoun Street from Wayne to Gregg
The most important parts of this project were resurfacing the street from Wayne to Gregg, re-striping the lanes in a smart way, and adding bike lanes and shared-use road markings, also known as sharrows. These improvements were designed to accommodate the increasing number of bicyclists in the city, while also maintaining efficient vehicular traffic flow.
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One of the most important changes is the way vehicles move, especially between Park and the halfway point between Henderson and Barnwell. Since dedicated bike lanes were added next to on-street parking, the law strictly prohibits motor vehicle travel within the bike lanes. This has caused changes to the assignment of lanes and turning patterns for cars. Also, sharrows have been put up in some areas of Calhoun Street to guide bicyclists and alert drivers to their presence, enhancing safety for all road users.
Even with these changes, on-street parking has been mostly kept the same, with a few small tweaks to make better use of area and ease of access. A “road diet” was put in place along three blocks of Calhoun Street as an important part of the project. This reduced the number of lanes for vehicles to make driving conditions better, make turning safer, and reduce places where different types of road users might collide.
These improvements can be traced back to the Richland County Penny Tax Referendum of 2012 and the subsequent adoption of the Walk Bike Columbia Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan by the City in 2015. Calhoun Street’s designation as a crucial east-west connector underlined the need for a more inclusive approach to urban planning, one that accommodates the needs of bicyclists and pedestrians alongside those of motorists.
The City of Columba, the Richland County Penny Tax for Transportation, and the Richland County Community Transportation Commission worked together to get the project funded. This shows a strong commitment to long-term urban growth. The City of Columbia was in charge of the project and overseen its completion through the City’s normal procurement process. This made sure that the changes were made in line with what the community needed.
As Calhoun Street steps into the future with its new look and enhanced functionality, the city takes a significant stride towards creating a more accessible, safe, and sustainable urban environment for all its residents and visitors.
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You can view an informational presentation about the project on the City’s YouTube channel here.
Photo credit: City of Columbia
