16 replies to this topic

[Spartan]

This thread was split off from the original here. Some of the posts contain information relevant to that discussion

BoDragon, on Jul 21 2005, 10:34 PM, said:

I would not plan on moving the railroad.  If they were interested in building a longer and higher tressel (i.e. SC 72 in Abbeville), I think it would be enough for a four lane road.

Your second option, Spartan, I favor.  Not only would I realign the interesection, but I would build a new road a block or two away.  This would be like Greenville's L. Peter Hollis Highway, SC 183's new location.  I know it will piss people off, but it can be a way to begin revitalizing Acadia's streets.

Traffic signals would be great, but that will not solve the entire problems at that interchange.  You still have to make sharp turns, the roads are very narrow, and there's too much traffic to handle either way on 295.

Has the City of Spartanburg or Spartanburg County Council thought about this yet?
I was not thinking about having this lifestyle center downtown.  It is an idea I have for a possible lifestyle center in northwest Greenville County.  I know that area is ready for a major regional center, something better than Cherrydale.
If one of the anchor stores leaves Westgate Mall, such as Profitt's, that would be the place to put Macy's.  Bass Pro Shop would be better built from the ground up somewhere.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Here is a map of the area in Arcadia we are talking about for those of you who are unfamiliar with it. The intersection on 295 follows W Blackstock, Hayne, and Spring St. The Hayne and Spring intersection involves an underpass beneath the railroad tressel.


I had forgotten about Fairforest Creek running trough there, and the fact that there is  a steep hill where the road would go in at Spring St. Rerouting the roads would be an expensive undertaking. But I agree that it would ultimately be  a good thing.

In actuality though, they could just reroute to Epton st, which could help to minimize the relocation hassle.



No matter what happens there, W Blackstock needs to be widened and there needs to be a light at each intersection, if only on a temporary basis.

I have a theory that if that part of town were more accessible and had a decent road as a thoroughfare, they might see an upturn.

I doubt that the council has thougth about this yet. They appear to be more focused on the ReGenesis project on the Southside and revitalizing the downtown area in general. If anyone has any other information on this I would be interested to know about it.

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Where would you put BPS then? I wouldn't mind seeing the Sears outbuliding garage thing go away...

[GSP Tiger]

If 295 was rerouted onto Epton Street, how would it decline down the hill to connect with Spring Street?

Is it feasibly possible to reroute SC 295 on a road closer to 26?  One idea is to build a new road westward of Arcadia Heights that would be a few hundred feet from the 26 underpass.  295 would intersect Haynes Street and the CSX railroad at at-grade intersections.  Working like a frontage road, 295 would connect to Fairforset Road and be carried outward to Asheville Hightway.

I may need to go in via Spring Street should I go to Westgate mall next time.  It will give me a better perspective of southbound traffic flow.

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I doubt Sears wants to do away with their auto center just yet.

The old Lowe's and Best Buy sites on the other side of 26 could really use some new tenants.  I do not know if new tenants have been found, or what direction that developer wishes to take.

I guess the old Profitt's is Westgate Mall's prime real estate space right now.

[roads-scholar]

Way back in the 1970's when Westgate was first being developed there were plans tossed about to reroute Blackstock closer to I-26 and closely following the alignment of Morning Circle.  The SC-295 routing would then have crossed the railroad tracks and linked up with Fairforest Road near where the new Smith Drug warehouse is now located.  This routing would have eliminated the dangerous and confusing route through Arcadia.

Arcadia is an old mill village but most of the homes in there are solid as a rock and built to last.  The architecture is really neat with the big front porches close to the street.  My grandparents lived there and I fondly recall those hot summer nights sitting on the big front porch talking to the neighbors.  It was a great little community in those days.  

There are some depressing looking homes scattered about in Arcadia but I believe it could be transformed someday into a great urban village.  How many old textile mill villages are this close to two interstates and a mall?

Word has it that developers have big plans for both the Mayfair and Bailey Plants that were once the major employers in Arcadia.

[GSP Tiger]

Is it still feasilble to relocate SC 295 along Morning Circle?

I think those Mayfair and Bailey plants would be great as a residential/retail center as long as it were built in the current mill structures.

Should we move this discussion into a new thread for Arcadia redevelopment?

[Spartan]

BoDragon, on Jul 22 2005, 02:12 PM, said:

If 295 was rerouted onto Epton Street, how would it decline down the hill to connect with Spring Street?

Is it feasibly possible to reroute SC 295 on a road closer to 26?  One idea is to build a new road westward of Arcadia Heights that would be a few hundred feet from the 26 underpass.  295 would intersect Haynes Street and the CSX railroad at at-grade intersections.  Working like a frontage road, 295 would connect to Fairforset Road and be carried outward to Asheville Hightway.

I may need to go in via Spring Street should I go to Westgate mall next time.  It will give me a better perspective of southbound traffic flow.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It would require some grading to have a direct connection no matter what.

roads-scholar, on Jul 22 2005, 02:17 PM, said:

Way back in the 1970's when Westgate was first being developed there were plans tossed about to reroute Blackstock closer to I-26 and closely following the alignment of Morning Circle.  The SC-295 routing would then have crossed the railroad tracks and linked up with Fairforest Road near where the new Smith Drug warehouse is now located.  This routing would have eliminated the dangerous and confusing route through Arcadia.

Arcadia is an old mill village but most of the homes in there are solid as a rock and built to last.  The architecture is really neat with the big front porches close to the street.  My grandparents lived there and I fondly recall those hot summer nights sitting on the big front porch talking to the neighbors.  It was a great little community in those days. 

There are some depressing looking homes scattered about in Arcadia but I believe it could be transformed someday into a great urban village.  How many old textile mill villages are this close to two interstates and a mall?

Word has it that developers have big plans for both the Mayfair and Bailey Plants that were once the major employers in Arcadia.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I like that idea. Arcadia has definatley seen better days. Can you share anythigng about the plans for those Mills? Are we talking lofts or retail, etc?

I agree that mill villages in general should be preserved as much as posisble, since they were a huge part of our area's history. That is why I was not so much in favor of the rerouting idea.

The retail development on the westside has shifted more to East and West Blackstock Rd in recent years, so I wouldn't be too suprised to see that part of it fixed up.

BoDragon, on Jul 22 2005, 02:22 PM, said:

Is it still feasilble to relocate SC 295 along Morning Circle?

I think those Mayfair and Bailey plants would be great as a residential/retail center as long as it were built in the current mill structures.

Should we move this discussion into a new thread for Arcadia redevelopment?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes and no. Realigning the intersection would be an easy thing to do- just go through that old parking lot.  But Morning Circle makes a sharp turn to the left after the tracks (going north), so it would require redesigning the connection there at the tracks, and proabbly widening and making Morning Circle safer somehow.

I'll work on splitting the Arcadia posts out today  B) Use this thread for now.

[hub-city]

Since we are dreaming; Are you guys familiar with the Hyw. 129 intersection right where Bus. 85 and I-85 join back together?  Its complete toward Lyman, but there is nothing on the other side but dirt.  It is a pretty good interchange now and could potentially lead into Sptbg.  I could see it head over and hook-up with Hayne Street as it crosses I-26 and continue into Sptbg, merging with Howard Street.  that could bring some new life and enegy into that side of town.  

i would post a map, but once again, I'm doing good to type. (not spell)

[roads-scholar]

I'm hoping SC-129 can be extended from it's current terminus at I-85 to Fairforest-Clevedale (Hayne Street) Road or even US-29 near the old Scenic Drive In area.  The I-85 / SC-129 area would be perfect for development if 129 was extended.  

However, this idea is not on SCDOT's or SPATS radar and, with funding hard to come by, I don't see it happening anytime soon.  It would take a major development in that area to divert funding for a project of that magnitude.

[Spartan]

posts have been split. Ill post more on the more recent ideas later

[GSP Tiger]

I would second SC 129's extension.   It would prodive another access to Renaissance Park via Haynes Street, provide Arcadia with another throughfare, and maybe relieve traffic on US 29. SC 129 as Fort Prince Boulevard does have the room necessary to warrant widening should the foursome need another four lane highway.  (SC 292 up to Inman can really use widening.)

[Spartan]

I agree with the 129 extension also. There needs to be a northern paralel route to 29 (much like Reidville Rd). I think many people would use it. As it is, there are only 2 easy, non-intserstate ways to get west of 26 (or south, depending on how you want to say it)- being W Main/Ezell(29) and St John/Reidville (296).

Even making Hayne St and Fairforest-Clevedale wider could be enough to create an alternate throroughfare around the horrid westside traffic congestion.

[Spartan]

I found myself passing through Arcadia the other day, and I realized a couple of things. First, Morning Circle is not W Cleveland St, which I thought we were talking about.

Morning Circle actually makes much more sense as an alternate route for 295, linking up with W Cleveland, and going on out to Asheville Hwy.

Second, yhey just repaved Hayne St, so I doubt that there are any plans for the near future.

[Spartan]

I put this together real quick. It shows the widening and rerouting that we have talked about. The red sections are ones that are completely new. I added a crossover from Hayne St to Howard St, so that it could provide an alternate route to downtown for any commuters.

[GSP Tiger]

Your map, Spartan, really points out the desired routes.

Does Haynes Street have enough room on its sides to allow for future widening?

[Spartan]

Honestly I don't know. I rarely ventrue down Hayne St since it doesn't lead to anywhere I need to go.

[btoy]

roads-scholar, on Jul 22 2005, 12:17 PM, said:

Way back in the 1970's when Westgate was first being developed there were plans tossed about to reroute Blackstock closer to I-26 and closely following the alignment of Morning Circle.  The SC-295 routing would then have crossed the railroad tracks and linked up with Fairforest Road near where the new Smith Drug warehouse is now located.  This routing would have eliminated the dangerous and confusing route through Arcadia.

Arcadia is an old mill village but most of the homes in there are solid as a rock and built to last.  The architecture is really neat with the big front porches close to the street.  My grandparents lived there and I fondly recall those hot summer nights sitting on the big front porch talking to the neighbors.  It was a great little community in those days. 

There are some depressing looking homes scattered about in Arcadia but I believe it could be transformed someday into a great urban village.  How many old textile mill villages are this close to two interstates and a mall?

Word has it that developers have big plans for both the Mayfair and Bailey Plants that were once the major employers in Arcadia.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

THat is correct the same developer who is doing Monaghan in Greenville and the Pendleton Mill in Pendlton owns those two mills.

Right now he is converting the Baily Mill to Residential.  No news yet on weather he will be doing the same thing at the Arcadia Mill.

Now if only some one would buy the Saxon Mill.

[Spartan]

^ Before it burns or get torn down for spare parts.

[westsider28]

There's an article today about the developer of Mayfair Mills Lofts who is asking for some tax incentives to develop Arcadia Mill No. 1 into loft apartments as well.  I remember hearing that redeveloping this mill was planned when the Mayfair Mill was being renovated several years ago.  It's good to hear that this project is still on the table.

Herald-Journal article