Reverting Farrow Road Back To Four-Lanes Is Estimated To Cost $257,000, Almost Double How Much The Bike Lanes Cost

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO)– The City of Columbia announced they Are removing the bike lanes they just installed because the community said it was backing up traffic and creating more confusion on the busy road.  In order to have the bike lanes they took the four-lane corridor and made the outer two lanes into bike lanes.

Bobcats and big machinery take up the outermost lanes as they try to undo all the work they have done in the past few months. Farrow Road has hundreds of commuters on it daily and many of them say being down to just two lanes has been a huge headache.

“Oh lord, you have the people that drive slow. You gotta stay behind them, people trying to make it to work, like me. I am trying to make it to work, honey, it’d just be too much,” Traci Sims said, a resident. 

Making the bike lane suitable for cars once again is going to take about 10 days, then they will paint the lines a month later.  

The Farrow Road project was initially a SCDOT paving project. The City estimated the addition of bike lanes would cost $140,000 once the project was finished. Due to the project being incomplete, staff is still working on actualizing final cost. The proposal for reversing the project, which includes milling, paving, and striping, is estimated to cost $257,000. The funding source is a blend of contingency funds and Public Works funds.

The City of Columbia urges drivers to expect delays during construction and the two-lane traffic will continue until the construction is complete.

“I drive this road every day, and it’s been very inconvenient,” George Jones said, a resident. 

“I’ve been traveling it less lately though because of the construction. Just trying to avoid accidents and stuff. It’s confusing to me,” Jarell Ray said. 

The city says it was because of all the feedback from the residents they decided to return to the four-lanes. The city was attempting to find ways to have a bike lane and four lanes, but the road is not wide enough to house both.

“It’s stupid. Like there was no point to that,” Sims said. 

“I think it was a big mistake to start with. No one planned it, it seemed to me,” Jones said.

“If it wasn’t broke they shouldn’t have tried to fix it,” Ray said. 

The reason the city wanted the bike lanes was to make it safer. There’ve been six fatal accidents on Farrow road in the past three years making it one of the deadliest areas of the city. Columbia Police say since construction started there have been three accidents on Farrow road.