Council reviews Taylor and Laurel Street road-diet concepts; staff cites $6 million estimate

City staff presented preliminary road-diet concepts for Taylor and Laurel streets near Findlay Park during the Columbia City Council meeting, proposing lane reconfigurations, shared-use paths for pedestrians and cyclists, angled parking chutes and traffic-calming features.

Todd Martin, identified in the agenda as the city landscape architect, said the proposals aim to ‘‘right-size’’ wide streets around the park to improve safety and connectivity and to add parking. "For both Taylor and Laurel Street, we're at about $6,000,000," Martin said, giving a conservative, planning-level estimate that splits roughly $3.5 million for Taylor Street and $2.5 million for Laurel Street.

The presentation, delivered by Nicole Groner, the multimodal transportation coordinator in Planning and Development Services, laid out two Laurel Street configurations because ownership of segments varies between the city and SCDOT. If DOT retains ownership, Groner said, angled parking likely would not be permitted; if the city gains ownership, 45- or 60-degree angled parking becomes an option. Groner described features for Taylor Street that include 11-foot travel lanes, shared-use paths on both sides, curb bump-outs designed to preserve drainage, parking "chutes" that separate entering/exiting vehicles from through traffic, flex zones for bus or rideshare pick-up and covered bicycle parking for existing racks.

Council members raised safety and operational concerns. One councilmember warned that a bike lane that appears to operate counter to nearby motor-traffic could confuse users and asked whether cyclists would be traveling against traffic; Groner replied that parking on both sides would serve as a protective buffer and clarified how bike-lane directions would be laid out. Another member said he had "1000 pictures" of cyclists not following traffic rules, asserting that some riders run red lights; the presenter and other members said design and public outreach could address behavior and safety.

Design details discussed included 10- to 12-foot two-way cycle tracks, wheel-stop or decorative barriers and landscaped, low-profile separators used elsewhere to combine safety with aesthetics. Council members suggested visiting examples in other cities to evaluate maintenance and appearance.

Staff emphasized the preliminary nature of the concepts and laid out next steps: further internal design work, coordination with SCDOT and a required public meeting before producing final technical drawings. A councilmember estimated the public-engagement phase would be about six months away.

The council did not take a final vote on the road-diet designs at the meeting; staff sought direction and public feedback to refine the plans and to confirm SCDOT support before moving into technical design.