Officials Break Ground on Innovista Project

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Columbia, S.C. (WOLO) — On Thursday morning, city leaders and officials broke ground on phase one of the Innovista Greene Street project. The project will narrow Greene Street from 4 lanes to 2 lanes and include pedestrian walkways and designated bike lanes. “This is the next step in our cities transformation and I think arguably some would say the greatest step,” said Mayor Steve Benjamin. Officials said the project will cost roughly $13 million. It is the first major project to be funded by the Pennies Impacting People Richland County Transportation Penny Program. “I think this shows the county’s commitment in moving these projects into construction, this is our first major project, this is a multi-million dollar one and it’s the first of several that will be coming out this year,” said Director of Transportation for Richland County, Rob Perry. Two additional phases will be built in the future, including a bridge that will go over the train tracks where Greene Street currently dead ends. “Infrastructure as a whole is huge for economic development,” explained Richland County Council Chairman Torrey Rush. “When we start talking about attracting people here or bringing commerce to Richland County to the city it‘s always good.” Officials said the project is expected to be complete by next summer.