COLUMBIA, S.C. — Roads, sidewalks, and rooftops in Columbia will soon become 'smart surfaces," thanks to an initiative thats funded in part from a $8.7 million dollar EPA grant to the Central Midlands Council of Governments.
The city will paint surfaces in urban areas like downtown Columbia that are often several degrees higher, according to a study the city did in 2022 to map out the hottest spots in Columbia.
"The city is hot, it’s hot downtown," said University of South Carolina Professor of Geography Kirsten Dow, who led the temperature-mapping study. "The big shopping malls stand out. On a map that goes from cools to bright reds, the bright reds are those big parking lots. But the downtown area is also one of those particularly hot areas."
Now, the city plans to target those spots, planting more trees and coating the pavement with a material that can reflect the sun, rather than just absorb it like black asphalt, says Assistant City Manager Clint Shealy.
“We’ve already started looking at what streets… what areas were located as heat centers and the condition of those streets. If they don’t need to be resurfaced then we’ll go in and put that cooling surface on there," said Shealy.
The plan is still being solidified, but after the roads are selected, they can go back and get the funding from the Central Midlands Council of Governments. Shealy says they hope to start paving and coating those roads in the next year.