WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. — The City of West Columbia was awarded a grant for traffic studies to boost pedestrian safety along Highway One.
West Columbia residents Nick Gavin and Kathryn Morit said walkability is a huge factor when deciding which bars and restaurants they visit. Having recently moved to West Columbia, Gavin said he enjoys being near downtown, but once he gets further from the river, Highway One becomes less walkable.
"Here, there's a nice pedestrian crossing where there's flashing lights, and cars can see you. I think that's really helpful. This is one of the few places that I've seen that has that," he said. "Then, you go along this road, and there's not too many places where you can cross or are very accessible."
According to West Columbia Mayor Tem Miles, that could soon change. The city was just awarded $288,000 from the U.S. Department of Transportation as part of a "Safe Streets For All" program. He said the money will be used to conduct safety surveys on pedestrian traffic.
"We're looking into some pop-outs to help folks know where the pedestrian crossings are," he said. "We're looking into incorporating some better places for pick up and drop off for ride share apps and services; we're just looking for ways to increase the safety of pedestrians along Highway One, where we intended to see further revitalized to be more of a retail corridor where you have more and more pedestrians moving about."
He said the study will be run through the entirety of Highway One in West Columbia as the city pushes to add more development to the Highway One corridor.
"There's nowhere more important than Highway One," Miles said. "It's the center of town, and it's the opportunity for us to go and really build out and have some additional retail. It's our best chance for that and to get a Main Street feel."
Moret said having more places to walk to and safer ways to get there would greatly help the area.
"If we can walk anywhere, that's so much better than worrying about Ubers, especially on a busy night with college students in town, and you have to worry about surcharges and Uber variabilities," she said. "But anywhere that we could walk would be better, so that's definitely a plus."
Miles did not give a timeline for the study project but says it should be started in the next year.