City of Columbia asking for public’s input as it tackles hazardous intersections & crosswalks

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — “Sharing the Road” is a new initiative with the City of Columbia that’s using crash data and public feedback to make Columbia’s roads safer for both drivers and pedestrians.

Are there specific crosswalks, intersections, or roadways across Columbia that make you feel a little uneasy or unsafe?  The City wants your input on areas that you think could be much safer.

To kickoff the process of implementing the new sharing the road initiative, community members were invited to the Richland County Public Library Wednesday morning and asked to share their concerns.

“Being able to access safe sidewalks and proper lighting in my area has become a huge concern for me because I do walk a lot. My children walk to school,” says Northeast resident Ashley McCall.

Traffic engineers at Kimley-Horn will build a comprehensive action plan along with City of Columbia officials — using the community’s knowledge along with data and trends from the past five years to identify the greatest areas of concern.

“We know where crashes have occurred, when they occurred, generally who was involved, vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists, whether they were rear end crashes, angled crashes, a whole slew of data,” says Joe Robertson with Kimley-Horn.

The City is also looking for feedback on where incidents have almost occurred.

“We know that there a lot of times whether you’re walking to get a coffee or you are driving to work you might hold your breath a little bit because you might hit an intersection or section of road and see a crash almost happen or almost be a victim of a crash, so we want to know about those areas too, because our data doesn’t reflect the near misses,” says Leigh Deforth, Comprehensive Planner with the City of Columbia.

Statistics show over 34,732 crashes occurred in Columbia between 2019 and 2023 — with 99 fatalities.

City officials say counter safety measures may include wider crosswalks, share-use paths, roundabouts, brighter lighting, and better signage at needed places throughout Columbia.

“The more information we have the better recommendations we can make that will better reflect the needs of the community,” Deforth says.

The City will collect public input through November, and plans to start implementing these changes next May.

To upload your ideas and input with the City of Columbia, visit its feedback site here.