Project would eliminate parking spaces, reconfigure traffic signals
When the new Darla Moore School of Business, in all its radiant luster, swings wide its doors in 2013, USC officials say more than 12,000 students could traverse Assembly Street each day.
And the chaotic thoroughfare, the Broadway of Columbia so to speak, is one tricky road to cross during peak hours — with six lanes of traffic and parking lanes flanking each side. Cars occasionally ignore red lights. Students don’t follow street crossings. Brave students dash in front of careening cars, sometimes hearing a whoosh and a honk as they barely avoid being hit.
That’s just with about 3,000 students crossing each day — the estimated number USC officials say currently walk, or sometimes sprint, across Assembly Street.
So before the business school opens, USC plans to spend $4 million on a project set to transform three of the busiest intersections on Assembly Street — Assembly and Devine, Assembly and College and Assembly and Greene. The project, given preliminary approval by the board of trustees earlier this month, will likely be contracted to the Department of Transportation, said Tom Quasney, USC’s associate vice president for facilities.
“We’re not really in the business of doing road work,” said Ed Walton, USC’s chief financial officer.
Quasney said USC officials are closely working with City of Columbia officials, who hope to eventually improve safety on Assembly Street between Elmwood Street and Rosewood Drive. That project doesn’t have a definite timeline though, Quasney said.
“We want to make this the model for all of Assembly Street,” Quasney said. “... Since the city will be doing the whole thing, we want to contribute our part to it. We don’t want the city to be in a hurry to do something for us.”
So what does $4 million buy the university on Assembly Street? Well, for starters, there will be a 28-foot landing zone in the median of each intersection, where students can stop halfway with adequate space. Shade trees and landscaping touches will be given to the landing zones, Quasney said.
Larger staging areas will stand on each corner, giving students more room to wait for the light. Traffic signals will be adjusted so students won’t have to wait as long, Walton said.
But that, in turn, will leave cars waiting longer on a street already known for historic train delays.
Add a 12-foot pedestrian lane for students to cross, and USC officials say the intersections will be much safer. Currently, the lane is three feet, Quasney said.
In its original plans, USC had planned to remove all parking spaces and reduce the street’s width. That now is unlikely due to high costs, Walton said.
“That turned out to be more of a beautification measure,” Walton said. “We want to put our money into as much safety enhancement as possible.”
A few spots near each intersection will be eliminated in the construction process.
Improvements are also likely for the spiraling stairs and tunnel that runs underneath Assembly Street from near the law school to outside the Carolina Coliseum, according to Quasney.
USC wants to add an elevator for disability access. Quasney said USC officials will consider improving streets from Pendleton to Blossom as well.