(South Carolina television station WISTV posted the following story by Megan Hughes on its website on August 28.)
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Some Midlands leaders are working out a plan to speed drivers’ trips through traffic in downtown Columbia traffic. Officials from the Department of Transportation, the City of Columbia, the University of South Carolina and the CSX and Norfolk Southern Railroads have released a plan to decrease the number of rail crossings.
The DOT says railroad stops affect 25,000 vehicles every day in Columbia, and they say the Assembly St. Enhancement and Railroad Consolidation Project will make a dozen them safer and less of a hassle.
South Carolina Transportation Commissioner John N. Hardee says the proposed project would allow motorists to drive on Assembly Street from the Carolina Coliseum to the State Fairgrounds without being stopped by a crossing train.
The plan would move one of the railroad lines along Assembly Street between Whaley and Rosewood, so it runs parallel with the other. At Assembly at Whaley the tracks would be elevated, so traffic could flow underneath.
Columbia Mayor Bob Coble says, “By putting those crossings below grade, so that we can get traffic through. I think it will beautify an entranceway into Columbia, and it’ll make for a safer entrance into Columbia and will eliminate those delays.” Coble says the project is a realistic one, “I think its a relatively do-able project. I don’t think it will be long term.”
Funding the plan would likely be its biggest obstacle. Already $5 million in federal transportation money is being used to develop the plan, but officials expect it will end up costing closer to $40 million, money not yet secured from the federal government. Hardee says getting funds is all about persistence, “I’ve always heard funds are tight. You just got to keep asking until you get the money.”
The plan calls for combining several CSX and Norfolk Southern routes to get rid of some of the rail crossings.