Richland County transportation director updates committee on Blythewood Road, roundabout, sidewalks and greenway planning

Director Michael Maloney updated the Richland County Transportation Advisory Committee on July 21 on a series of road, sidewalk and greenway projects tied to the county's transportation penny funding and federal pedestrian-safety grants.

Maloney said work on the Blythewood Road corridor is busier than usual because of equipment deliveries tied to a nearby factory expansion, adding that the county expects "about 1,800 more workers" associated with that site and that additional deliveries and machinery assembly are under way. He said the Community Road/Bluffwood Road intersection and a nearby roundabout have become critical to traffic flow while construction continues.

"We plan to have the roundabout substantially completed at the August," Maloney said, noting the South Community Road closure and that South Carolina Department of Transportation review remains time-sensitive. He described a potential change DOT is considering to add a left-turn-only lane through the roundabout'if the agency approves the modification in time.

Maloney said two sidewalk projects are in construction: the Percival Road project, which was redesigned to provide a continuous 5-foot sidewalk after the county paid to remove constraints including a buried water main and guardrail; and Sunset Drive, where crews are installing retaining and parapet walls near a commercial intersection.

He reported that Atlas Road Phase 1A continues with utility relocation and that the county is preparing to bid Phase 1B (road construction) once utilities are relocated and final approvals are in place. Maloney said Phase 2 could be bid separately when DOT signs off on final plans.

The county will host a public information meeting about Jackson Creek Greenway from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Decker Community Center, Maloney said. He said the greenway would be maintained by Richland County and that the meeting will present alternatives, two possible endpoints and the corridor alignment. Materials and a way to submit comments online will be provided, he said.

Maloney described work on other greenway projects funded in the penny program: Crane Creek (including outreach to landowners where the City of Columbia is a property owner), a Bridal/Broad River alignment that requires floodplain review before construction, and Gills Creek, where the county is coordinating property-ownership and alignment issues with the city. He said portions of the Bridal/Broad River route will require at least two bridges to cross tributaries without increasing floodplain impacts.

On county planning for the next transportation penny (referred to as Penny 2), Maloney said consultants are scoring candidate projects using six criteria with safety given the highest weight. He confirmed Richland County was selected for a USDOT Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant and that the county's application was administered through the Richland County Public Works Department. "We are finalizing things with the USDOT as far as that grant goes," he said, noting the grant is for $400,000 with more than $200,000 allocated to an action plan to identify pedestrian safety hot spots and suggested improvements.

Public commenter Rayan Freeman, representing the Coldlight Collective, praised the county's street-safety work and urged staff to post meeting maps and PDFs online so people who cannot attend can review project materials and offer feedback. "Columbia's metro area is the twelfth most dangerous in the country for pedestrians, and it's great to see that we're working to fix that," Freeman said.

Maloney closed by reiterating timelines: roundabout substantial completion targeted in August, ongoing sidewalk and utility work, and upcoming public outreach for greenways and Jackson Creek alternatives.

The committee did not take formal action on individual construction contracts at the July 21 meeting; the items Maloney discussed were project updates and outreach timelines.