A Grand Boulevard for Columbia: Assembly Street Improvements

[CorgiMatt]

Am I to assume they're going to bury the power lines on the sides of Assembly and in the median? The renderings don't show powerlines, but nothing I've read mentions them.

[carolinagarnet]

I'm pretty late on this, but I just read the USC board minutes from September and it mentioned that USC is adding an elevator to the tunnel under Assembly (I assume at the base of the stairs). I think USC abandoned the long ramp idea since it was not financially feasibly, so the elevator is a great ADA-compliant solution.

 

http://trustees.sc.edu/minutes/comm-min/B&G_092112.pdf

 

This let me to look into the progress of the improvements and I read the Central Mobility report from May:

 

http://www.columbiasc.net/depts/city_council/downloads/05_08_2012_Agenda_Items/Central_Mobility_Improvement.pdf

 

While I think most of the items were already discussed, I just noticed that there will no longer be left turns at the Assembly and Greene Street intersection. Personally I think this is a brilliant move considering how difficult it is to see cars approaching the intersection, which sits at the top of a hill.

[BrasilnSC]

Eliminating the left turns will make the intersection much safer for the hundreds of students that will cross Assembly once the new business school opens.

[lucjanrc]

I'v heard that the sidewalks on Assembly Street are getting dug up, is this the breakthrough we've been waiting for?

[CorgiMatt]

I'v heard that the sidewalks on Assembly Street are getting dug up, is this the breakthrough we've been waiting for?

dug through only in a few spots and orange marks in other spots

[BrasilnSC]

I believe they are getting ready to bury power lines as part of the streetscaping from Blossom to Pendleton St.

[Spartan]

I'm pretty late on this, but I just read the USC board minutes from September and it mentioned that USC is adding an elevator to the tunnel under Assembly (I assume at the base of the stairs). I think USC abandoned the long ramp idea since it was not financially feasibly, so the elevator is a great ADA-compliant solution.

 

http://trustees.sc.edu/minutes/comm-min/B&G_092112.pdf

 

This let me to look into the progress of the improvements and I read the Central Mobility report from May:

 

http://www.columbiasc.net/depts/city_council/downloads/05_08_2012_Agenda_Items/Central_Mobility_Improvement.pdf

 

While I think most of the items were already discussed, I just noticed that there will no longer be left turns at the Assembly and Greene Street intersection. Personally I think this is a brilliant move considering how difficult it is to see cars approaching the intersection, which sits at the top of a hill.

 

Two things:

 

1- Thanks for going through those minutes and digging up that info!

 

2- I sincerely hope they don't try to install a "pedestrian crossover" across Gervais/Assembly. What a terrible idea. If you spend the money to construct one of those things to make functional improvements to the intersection (read that as "pedestrian and bicycle friendly improvements) then you will accomplish the same goal at a potentially lower cost. What it takes is committing to the notion that pedestrians should be king in downtown. Cars will find their way... there are plenty of streets to get around.

[carolinagarnet]

Putting crossovers above Gervais or Assembly would make USC appear to be a city school (a la VCU in Richmond or UAB in Birmingham), which is definitely not what the school wants. I hope that the area between Sumter St and Assembly Street, between Greene St and Pendleton St, is redeveloped. That whole area is primed for development given its location and the lack of current buildings or obstructions. I don't really understand why SCANA and the state have that land tied up in the first place, but they need to sell if off to USC or private developers at some point. That would go a long way to making the whole area feel safer and more walkable.

[CorgiMatt]

I don't think they would go to the trouble of cutting out some lanes of traffic and making the intersections psychologically less intimidating with traffic-calming features only to then turn around and construct walkovers to entice students and other pedestrians to leave the street.  They already have a walk-under, the tunnel that runs from the Carolina Coliseum to the current law school.  

[carolinagarnet]

I anticipate there being a lot of frustration from drivers at the intersection of Assembly and Greene when the business school opens. I can imagine that there will be a lot of pedestrian traffic and knowing how lax students tend to be with crossing signals, there may be some traffic incidents.

[mr. chips]

Yesterday someone was injured on Assembly Street near Greene Street. This is happening very often, and it will be far worse when the Darla Moore Business School opens next year. With big public venues across Assembly street from the main campus (Koger Center, Darla building, School of Music, Colonial Life arena, Public Health) and soon-to-be constructed new residence halls near the Colonial Life center, this will become a major, major problem. There will be literally thousands of students crossing Assembly every day. They can't all be expected to use the underground tunnel (lazy, no time to go down and up, need to walk out of the way rather than in a direct path, etc). The proposed "adjustments" to Assembly will only postpone what will need to be more serious changes to make this work. I predict that the City and USC will need to come to grips soon with the idea that they will need to create a flat pedestrian bridge (no stairs up and down) like the pedestrian bridge over Pickens that connects the campus for pedestrians. I hope that they are already starting to think about how this will be done. The proposed "solution" is just temporary, and possibly a waste of funds.

[CorgiMatt]

Yesterday someone was injured on Assembly Street near Greene Street. This is happening very often, and it will be far worse when the Darla Moore Business School opens next year. With big public venues across Assembly street from the main campus (Koger Center, Darla building, School of Music, Colonial Life arena, Public Health) and soon-to-be constructed new residence halls near the Colonial Life center, this will become a major, major problem. There will be literally thousands of students crossing Assembly every day. They can't all be expected to use the underground tunnel (lazy, no time to go down and up, need to walk out of the way rather than in a direct path, etc). The proposed "adjustments" to Assembly will only postpone what will need to be more serious changes to make this work. I predict that the City and USC will need to come to grips soon with the idea that they will need to create a flat pedestrian bridge (no stairs up and down) like the pedestrian bridge over Pickens that connects the campus for pedestrians. I hope that they are already starting to think about how this will be done. The proposed "solution" is just temporary, and possibly a waste of funds.

I was at the Urban Land Institute's citizens' input forum on connecting Columbia last night, and Assembly Street was center stage in that discussion.  There were at least 200 people there.  About 30 to 40 people spoke, and I think the panel gets it.     

[carolinagarnet]

I can't imagine how a bridge would work logistically considering that the buildings are downhill from the crossing. The tunnel is actually perfect considering it lets out directly in front of the Moore School, but most people are not aware that it exists. I think that will change once the new building is open. That said, the stairs really are a mental barrier. USC initially planned to make an extended ramp to the tunnel starting near Main Street next to the law school but abandoned the idea, I assume due to cost. The only thing I can imagine the school adding is a bridge similar to the Strom Thurmond gym bridge, but that might not be feasible since it wasn't planned in advance and USC doesn't own land on the other side of Assembly.

[CorgiMatt]

If the outlines they've drawn of the pedestrian landings at intersections on Gervais are any indication of what they are going to be like along Assembly, motorists are going to know pedestrians rule.

[lucjanrc]

If the outlines they've drawn of the pedestrian landings at intersections on Gervais are any indication of what they are going to be like along Assembly, motorists are going to know pedestrians rule.

Can you post those outlines

[CorgiMatt]

Can you post those outlines

It was probably over a year ago that I saw renderings of them.  I saw the outlines and the broken-up sidewalk with my own eyes today.  Motorists will know their place.  

[mr. chips]

I can't imagine how a bridge would work logistically considering that the buildings are downhill from the crossing. The tunnel is actually perfect considering it lets out directly in front of the Moore School, but most people are not aware that it exists. I think that will change once the new building is open. That said, the stairs really are a mental barrier. USC initially planned to make an extended ramp to the tunnel starting near Main Street next to the law school but abandoned the idea, I assume due to cost. The only thing I can imagine the school adding is a bridge similar to the Strom Thurmond gym bridge, but that might not be feasible since it wasn't planned in advance and USC doesn't own land on the other side of Assembly.

My idea is that the "bridge"would connect sidewalk to sidewalk on the block in front of the Koger Center, and the street would be dug down below like a small tunnel. Similar to the campus pedestrian bridge on Pickens. If they could do that, they can do this. Since the land formation is actually a hill already, the cars would actually drive pretty much straight from the level of the street coming from Blossom. It might cost a bit, but not as much as a real tunnel would. And it would enhance the area greatly. If USC could acquire the land directly opposite the Koger Center, across Assembly, they could eventually build a nice entrance to the campus from there, with a signature building like the Darla Moore Building.  That would really enhance the campus and the city.

[BrasilnSC]

My idea is that the "bridge"would connect sidewalk to sidewalk on the block in front of the Koger Center, and the street would be dug down below like a small tunnel. Similar to the campus pedestrian bridge on Pickens. If they could do that, they can do this. Since the land formation is actually a hill already, the cars would actually drive pretty much straight from the level of the street coming from Blossom. It might cost a bit, but not as much as a real tunnel would. And it would enhance the area greatly. If USC could acquire the land directly opposite the Koger Center, across Assembly, they could eventually build a nice entrance to the campus from there, with a signature building like the Darla Moore Building.  That would really enhance the campus and the city.

I like the idea. The only way it could work is to make Greene Street the overpass, since it is the highest point. A car free Greene Street.

Hopefully the low cost approach eliminating left turns and building bulbouts works well.

[carolinagarnet]

I like the idea, but I imagine that it would be very costly. The USC Athletics Department investigated lowering George Rogers Blvd to build a direct walkway from the Fairgrounds to Williams-Brice and decided against it due to cost. Considering that Wells Fargo, CVS, the gas station, Wendy's, and the church are all built up to the street and have access directly from it, I think it would be hard to build it and even harder to get all parties to agree to it, particularly if it would potentially interfere with their business.

[mr. chips]

I like the idea, but I imagine that it would be very costly. The USC Athletics Department investigated lowering George Rogers Blvd to build a direct walkway from the Fairgrounds to Williams-Brice and decided against it due to cost. Considering that Wells Fargo, CVS, the gas station, Wendy's, and the church are all built up to the street and have access directly from it, I think it would be hard to build it and even harder to get all parties to agree to it, particularly if it would potentially interfere with their business.

If the bridge is just the one block in front of the Koger, then it really only affects the gas station and Wendy's. Eminent domain for the public good? It is too bad that this block seems to be broken into so many small plots of land - I wonder who really owns it all. Is it really owned by each individual business? It would be a "natural" for USC to build something there and connect the two parts of the campus. 

[carolinagarnet]

I agree that it needs to happen, particularly with the school building dorms across Assembly now. A tunnel just does not have the same sense of continuity that a bridge does due to the feeling of having to go underground to access a large part of campus. A bridge on Assembly would also be a big marketing tool for the school. I have always wondered why USC has not put light pole signs up on Assembly, Gervais, and Blossom the way other schools do to designate the area as its campus.

 

The block bordered by Main, Greene, College, and Assembly seems primed for a big redevelopment if someone can convince some combination of Sandy's, Baptist Collegiate Ministry, SC Bookstore, Wendy's, Shell, that print shop and the law firm to sell. I would actually prefer USC not to develop the block because Main Street feels like it should have mainly retail.

[CorgiMatt]

Local news reports last night focused on the "well marked pedestrian crossings."  I think those will suffice.  Let's grow up.  We're in a city.  Keep feet on the street.

[carolinagarnet]

It's more about the feel of the campus in my opinion. City campuses like DePaul in Chicago and George Washington in DC feel like a series of buildings, whereas Vanderbilt in Nashville and Georgetown in DC feel like true campuses that just happen to be located in the city. There is no real way to connect the disparate parts of the campus together without somehow redeveloping the whole swath of land between Sumter, Assembly, Pendleton, and Green Streets, but you can at least make it feel less like a second campus by allowing students to cross without having to worry about auto traffic. This will become more of a concern as USC shifts more of its campus across Assembly. I think something like the bridge to Strom would do wonders if the school can find a way to buy the Wendy's or at least buy the land on the corner, but a bridge more like the Pickens Street bridge would of course be preferable.

[CorgiMatt]

Well marked brick pedestrian crossings at Blossom and Assembly and Blossom and Park would have been preferable to the crosswalks.  Keep feet on the street.

[carolinagarnet]

I think you're missing the point. Keeping feet on the street is important in areas that require high volume (i.e. North Main Street, Five Points, the Vista), but there is no real reason that students need to walk cross Assembly Street, or Blossom Street for that matter. Stopping at multiple traffic lights takes on the way to class takes away from the sense of continuity that you get from Capstone to the Horseshoe. Considering the relatively short time between classes, this is a critical issue for students. Moreover, the number of traffic incidents near the new Moore School in the past year suggests that traffic calming will not do much to make the solve the safety risk at that intersection. There will be a huge influx of students crossing Assembly at Greene, College, and Pendleton Streets after the Moore School and the proposed dorm open, so more permanent infrastructure is not unreasonable. Assembly Street as it stands is designed as a thoroughfare, not an urban street. If USC insists on building in the Innovista area, it needs to have a serious discussion with the city about how to better connect the two sides of campus. Brick crosswalks and small medians, while probably effective in the short term, do little to bridge a six lane divide.