COLUMBIA – Everyone has at least one story about Assembly Street.
College students or tourists making questionable crossings. Cars making even more questionable turns or ignoring red lights. A reckless cyclist who almost gets hit from the side.
The wide, six-lane main street bisects the city’s busiest business districts – a no-man’s land between Main Street and The Vista and the University of South Carolina campus.
Among downtown streets, Assembly Street is the deadliest for pedestrians. Since 2020, 19 people have been injured and two killed after being struck by vehicles, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Safety.
“I’ve definitely seen several pedestrians almost get hit while crossing,” Earlewood resident Dylan Reidy said Aug. 22 at an SCDOT meeting gathering feedback on improving road safety. “Sometimes it’s due to careless crossings, sometimes it’s due to driver error, or a combination of both.”
The good news is that two projects – one led by the city and one led by the state Department of Transportation – aim to make the streets safer for pedestrians.
These are the latest pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly projects as part of an effort by residents and officials to make Columbia less car-centric.
State project
A state Department of Transportation project will remove parking spaces, widen medians, extend curbs, improve traffic signals and build new and improved pedestrian crossings on Assembly from Elmwood Avenue to Rosewood Drive.
Construction of the project could begin in 2026.
Every intersection will be upgraded in some way. For example, from Lady Street to Pendleton Street, four new pedestrian crossings will be built, the rest will be repainted; curbs will be extended to shorten the pedestrian crossing distance by 75 metres, and three turning lanes will be removed.
The project also includes the construction of a sidewalk along George Rogers Boulevard from Rosewood Drive to Bluff Road. In total, the project includes:
- 16 new zebra crossings, 45 zebra crossing upgrades and 2 bicycle zebra crossings
- 35 curb extensions and 11 median strip extensions, reducing pedestrian crossing times by over 300 metres
- 4,000 feet of new sidewalk
- The removal of seven turning lanes
- 57 new road markings
- The relocation of 4 bus stops
Although there is no narrowing of the roadway, wider medians and curbs give the impression of a narrower road, which could cause people to drive slower.
“A big problem on Assembly Street is that people just ignore the speed limit,” says Daniel Huichapa, a traffic engineer who is a consultant on the project. “When you drive and you have wider sidewalks, you unconsciously drive safer.”
At the public meeting on August 22, participants were mostly positive and enthusiastic about the improvements.
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Tad Dallas rides his bike to work downtown. Like many cyclists, he avoids Assembly Street at all costs and usually takes Sumter Street as a safer alternative. He said he likes the improvements for pedestrians, but also wants to see more bike-friendly infrastructure in the future.
“I’m not advocating for cycling across the Assembly. I’m advocating for being able to cross the Assembly safely,” Dallas said. “If I want to go anywhere along the riverfront, I have to cross the Assembly.”
Regan Freeman, development director at the Cola Town Bike Collective, said he was pleasantly surprised by the project.
“Ideally, this wouldn’t be a huge thoroughfare in the middle of our city, but I’ll take what I can get,” he said. “I’m actually very happy.”
City project
Another city-led project to improve safety on Assembly Street from Pendleton to Lady Street is also in the works. The $16 million project will improve safety and create a pedestrian-friendly atmosphere by better connecting Main Street, the Statehouse and The Vista. Project highlights include:
- Laying existing supply lines underground
- Elimination of parking spaces in the center line
- Elimination of pedestrian crossings in the middle of blocks
- Installation of pedestrian crossings to reduce crossing length
- Installation of decorative zebra crossings
- Installation of modernized lighting and landscaping throughout
- Creating visual continuity through the Main Street and Vista entertainment districts
- Increasing pedestrian traffic between Main Street, Vista and the SC Statehouse Grounds
- Reduce rear-end and side-impact accidents along Assembly Street
Drafts for the plan are 30 percent complete, and the city needs another $3 million to fully fund it. If approved, the money could come from the state legislature in the next session, according to City Councilman Tyler Bailey.
Two new projects could bring wider sidewalks, medians and other pedestrian-friendly improvements to Assembly Street in Columbia.
Two new projects could bring wider sidewalks, medians and other pedestrian-friendly improvements to Assembly Street in Columbia.
“We want to think about connecting Main Street across the Vista to the riverfront … so people can bike and walk there,” Bailey said. “That will make a big difference.”
