A Grand Boulevard for Columbia: Assembly Street Improvements

[BrasilnSC]

Hopefully they can at least use pavement markings to make the crosswalks more noticeable.

They are also resurfacing Blossom St from 5 pts to Assembly and Devine St from 5 pts to Millwood.

[scnative]

There are signs posted on the Capital Center building, they are from the Board of Zoning Appeals. Any news on this item?

[CorgiMatt]

They are for an advertising sign, probably for City Bites, a new breakfast and lunch restaurant opening in the Capitol Center.

[krazeeboi]

Have any of you seen the photos of Assembly when the State Farmers Market was housed there? Back in the 30s and 40s. Pretty amazing.

My Dad remembers buying fruit there when he was a USC student.

I'd hazard a guess that legacy could be part of the reason it grew up as the back side of Main, as Krazeeboi noted.

I just ran across this picture and thought about this discussion. I had no clue Assembly used to be lined with commercial buildings like that; you certainly wouldn't know it now with surface lots and parking garages fronting the street today:

[Spartan]

Yep. Have you seen the one that shows the market they used to have in the center of Assembly? You can see it in the background of the one you posted...

[krazeeboi]

The cover story about Main Street in The State last Sunday talked about how Mayor Benjamin wants to spend $125 million to narrow Assembly Street. He plans to pay for it using money from the State Infrastructure Bank. Columbia had already submitted an application under previous Mayor Coble. That plan focused mostly on removing the railroad tracks from south Assembly Street. Benjamin’s plan would still do that, but it would also narrow Assembly Street from Gervais Street to Washington Street.

Tuesday, City Council members approved paying the Dennis Corp. $8,750 to make the changes, which include:

• Executive Summary to include new census data

• USC updated information to include the Darla Moore School of Business*

• Updated traffic data on Assembly Street

• Enhance the description of the Assembly Street project

• Public benefits to include the River Alliance, public attractions, Mass General and Darla Moore building

• Update congestion data and crash data on Assembly Street with SCDOT

• Update unemployment data

• Enhance promotion of economic development

• Enhance pedestrian safety data and the areas quality of life

• Update all financial data

• Update timetable and bar chart

• Update status of all projects

• Add information on USC to include future projects and development

Read more: http://blogs.thestateonline.net/metrodesk/2011/05/25/council-approves-state-infrastructure-bank-application/#ixzz1NkvqxozF

[GvilleSC]

The cover story about Main Street in The State last Sunday talked about how Mayor Benjamin wants to spend $125 million to narrow Assembly Street. He plans to pay for it using money from the State Infrastructure Bank. Columbia had already submitted an application under previous Mayor Coble. That plan focused mostly on removing the railroad tracks from south Assembly Street. Benjamin’s plan would still do that, but it would also narrow Assembly Street from Gervais Street to Washington Street.

I hope this would be a multi-phased project and eventually expand past Washington and Gervais, particularly south. That's a fairly small stretch, albeit an important one. Nonetheless, good to see!

[krazeeboi]

Yeah, I think Assembly should be narrowed as far south as Blossom and perhaps north to Laurel. The southern portion sounds like it may happen eventually since the application will be updated to cite the future Moore School of Business. But for right now, the stretch from Gervais to Washington is the most important in terms of connecting Main to the Vista. I applaud the mayor's leadership on this issue. The only question is, when might we see some action on this? As the prior article mentioned, there are already projects in the pipeline with the infrastructure bank, including I-526 in Charleston and the access road that will connect CAE with I-26.

[growingup15]

I Think assembly should be Widen take away the parking and add a couple new lanes. or................... Take away the southbound Lane completely from Elmwood- Whaley st and make that a greenway and turn the northbound into a Northbound only one way. 5 lanes

[johnpro318]

I Think assembly should be Widen take away the parking and add a couple new lanes. or................... Take away the southbound Lane completely from Elmwood- Whaley st and make that a greenway and turn the northbound into a Northbound only one way. 5 lanes

Why does Assembly need MORE lanes?? That street is almost empty every time I drive through, both of cars traveling the road and of pedestrians walking the sidewalks.

[growingup15]

Did you read my second after the widen part

[Spartan]

^Please attempt to use grammatically correct sentences.

Widening Assembly is ridiculous. That street is was overbuilt with a suburban street design. 4 lanes would be plenty. The only downside to the City's plan is that it's only a few blocks of narrowing. Everything from at least Blossom St to Elmwood should be looked at. By narrowing the street you could get "greenway" like streets because there would be more room for trees, grass, etc.

[growingup15]

^Please attempt to use grammatically correct sentences.

Widening Assembly is ridiculous. That street is was overbuilt with a suburban street design. 4 lanes would be plenty. The only downside to the City's plan is that it's only a few blocks of narrowing. Everything from at least Blossom St to Elmwood should be looked at. By narrowing the street you could get "greenway" like streets because there would be more room for trees, grass, etc.

Yeah that was really a stupid idea of minds. I think narrowing it is better. and taking the parking away on Assembly but add more green space.

[mr. chips]

Article in today's State about Assembly Street: http://www.thestate.com/2011/07/17/1900991/crosswalks-vistas-path-to-future.html

Some nice ideas, but in reality they won't have much effect on pedestrians, making Assembly more beautiful, attracting people to the Vista, etc. There needs to be a much more dramatic approach: for example, make a greenbelt out of Assembly and put the cars in a tunnel underneath, for at least part of the street. That would also help the increasing problem of USC students trying to cross Assembly to reach the part of campus that is being built in the Vista. Think Chicago Millenium Park, with the trains under the park.

[CorgiMatt]

There's a pedestrian tunnel under Assembly between Greene and Devine. It goes from the Law School to the Coliseum (and soon to the business school).

[mr. chips]

There's a pedestrian tunnel under Assembly between Greene and Devine. It goes from the Law School to the Coliseum (and soon to the business school).

That's true - but if students are coming from the Horseshoe to the Public Health building or the School of Music, or the Koger Center etc they won't make a long detour to use the tunnel - and there have been a lot of accidents on Assembly street. As more buildings get built in the Vista part of the campus there will be more accidents unless this is addressed. Not to mention creating a beautiful space. just imagine a green horizontal park along Assembly - with sculptures, sitting areas, fountains...just dreaming!

I just came back from Valencia, Spain where they did something like this along the old river bed - it now is a fabulous park, and it has amazing architectural gems by Santiago Calatrava in their new City of Arts and Sciences. Just dreaming...

[johnpro318]

That's true - but if students are coming from the Horseshoe to the Public Health building or the School of Music, or the Koger Center etc they won't make a long detour to use the tunnel - and there have been a lot of accidents on Assembly street. As more buildings get built in the Vista part of the campus there will be more accidents unless this is addressed. Not to mention creating a beautiful space. just imagine a green horizontal park along Assembly - with sculptures, sitting areas, fountains...just dreaming!

I just came back from Valencia, Spain where they did something like this along the old river bed - it now is a fabulous park, and it has amazing architectural gems by Santiago Calatrava in their new City of Arts and Sciences. Just dreaming...

That would be amazing...it would be something sort of like the Big Dig. I just don't see it ever happening haha. What is proposed would probably be our best bet for awhile.

[CorgiMatt]

It's mainly about money. If I ever play the lottery and win the mega-jackpot Columbia will never be the same.

[krazeeboi]

The city needs to come up with a blueprint for what it wants the Assembly Street of the future to look like. It has much potential, but is pretty haphazard as is, particularly since Assembly south of Gervais serves a much different function than Assembly north of Gervais. Since much of the street south of Gervais is inclusive of USC, the city needs to work in conjunction with the university on this. In some places the buildings are pulled up to the sidewalk (old VA regional offices building, the county library, Arnold School of Public Health, etc.), and in some places they aren't (Koger Center, CVS, Carolina First/TD Bank building). There's also the issue of some parking garages that front Assembly with absolutely no street-level uses, and I'm not sure if these structures can be retrofitted; Vista Center is a very notable exception. The overall hilliness of the street throws something of a monkey wrench into things also, as the post office demonstrates. For right now, I think the main focus is where it should be: the intersection with Gervais since that is crucial in connecting Main with the Vista, particularly via those two high-profile vacant parcels. The next phase of narrowing the street should extend three blocks southward to College, IMO. Overall, it's just something of a weird setup to have a major arterial run parallel with your premier commercial corridor downtown as opposed to the former feeding into the latter or even being one and the same, and that can be tough to work with as is.

[Spartan]

Crosswalks:

It is a well proven fact that brick-stamped asphalt does not work well for a crosswalk. The main reason is that drivers going at 30+ mph cannot see them as well as pedestrians can, so it gives pedestrians a false sense of security. The other reason is that, and I will guarantee this, they will look like shit after about 1-2 years. Cars and trucks will wear away the paint. I have yet to see any city successfully implement a maintenance program to repaint the crosswalks every couple of years. So if the City does that, then perhaps they will work.

The traffic calming project is a good idea overall though. Adding trees can only help.

Ped Tunnels:

There are plenty of great pedestrian tunnels in the USA too The thing is, redesigning Assembly Street to make it better for pedestrians would be so much easier and cheaper...

Krazeeboi, that's why most city planners are moving towards "context sensitive design." What that means is that you look at various segments of a street and make plans based on the character and function of the street so that it's not a "one-size-fits-all" approach to street design. Your analysis is as good of a start as any professional would make.

[krazeeboi]

Spartan, the city is planning on using StreetPrintXD. Read more about it and the "Heart of the Vista" plans here.

[Spartan]

That's slightly better. But I'd still prefer to see crosswalks in white.

[krazeeboi]

A team of urban-planning experts from across South Carolina from the Urban Land Institute will be in Columbia next week to help devise a plan to make downtown, and specifically Assembly Street, more conducive to pedestrian activity and will make suggestions for improvements to connect Main Street, the Vista, USC's campus, Innovista by foot and bicycles. The forum will be held Monday, Sept. 26, in City Council chambers, 1737 Main St. The public also is invited to hear the panel’s preliminary recommendations the next day at the Edens & Avant offices at 1221 Main St.

[Spartan]

Make sacrifices that will slow the traffic flow in the areas you want to be walkable. Lady Street and Five Points are great models for success. Build on it, Columbia.

[krazeeboi]

Assembly Street should be narrowed to four lanes by widening its median into a linear urban park, complete with bike path, landscaping and perhaps even sheds for a local farmers market, as it had in days of old, according to the ULI panel who met in Columbia this week. The narrower street and inviting median park would help pedestrians more safely cross the busy thoroughfare, which bisects the state capital north to south from Elmwood Avenue to the State Fairgrounds. The panel did not specify how long the linear park should be, but college students who spoke at a public hearing complained of a lack of sidewalks on Assembly Street – a problem the park would solve.

The land institute’s experts said the intersection of Assembly and Gervais streets is one of the most important, if not the most important intersection in the state. Panelists said the intersection should be transformed into an “urban moment” with public art, a water feature, or a park that spills from the State House grounds into the first block of the Vista.