'Wide' Thinking

[themetro803]

I live in Northeast Columbia, and of course, Two Notch Road is our major corridor. I love the location of where I live, and as much as I do like strolling down Two Notch to go about my day, there's one thing that sometimes bothers me - the traffic! Sometimes, the traffic on Two Notch Road can make ya' real mad - especially when traffic bottles up by the WAL*MART, Zesto's, and the I-20 Interchange. As I drive down the road, sometimes I think to myself, "Two Notch Road would function more efficiently if it was 6 lanes wide." How do y'all feel about that situation? Do you all think it might benefit the commuters and businesses on the Northeast corridor if Two Notch Road was indeed 6 lanes wide from the Parklane/Decker intersection to Clemson Road? I know it's a VERY tough situation considering the railroad paralleling it the entire way, but I do believe it's one of those situations where it could and should be done. That's not only the only area that strikes me when I talk about widening.

Broad River Road is another place I feel would benefit from the wideness. Sometimes, I DREAD making that drive to the other side of town, because I think, "Oh Lord - who's gonna' make me mad on this road today?" The new exit is nice from the I-20 WEST side, but I stil dread going over there. Augusta Road in West Columbia is another road I feel should be 6 lanes. If you've ever driven out that way by the WAL*MART (gotta love the WAL*MART traffic!) and Farmer's Market, the street is kinda' narrow and can get really bottlenecked sometimes. So, do y'all feel that I'm wrong for thinking that these streets should be wider to help traffic flow more efficiently? Or, do y'all think it's one of those things that should be done?

[krazeeboi]

Welcome to the forum!

Not too sure about Broad River, but the traffic on Two Notch can be downright terrible at times. I remember the first time I traveled the road during evening rush hour (thankfully, it was towards the city), and I couldn't believe how congested it was. I think it might actually be feasible to widen Two Notch to 3 lanes in each direction.

[baf3472]

Welcome to the forum!

Not too sure about Broad River, but the traffic on Two Notch can be downright terrible at times. I remember the first time I traveled the road during evening rush hour (thankfully, it was towards the city), and I couldn't believe how congested it was. I think it might actually be feasible to widen Two Notch to 3 lanes in each direction.

[waccamatt]

IMO people should move back into the city and not have to worry about continuing sprawl, which is an inefficient means of growth. Widening these roads will just encourage more and more sprawl.

[krazeeboi]

They are actually doing work on Two Notch Rd. I know they are adding turning lanes to and from Rabon Rd.

[Captain Worley]

I could see widening Two Notch between Clemson and Parlane, but I don't think Broad River Road is anywhere near as bad, and there isn't a whole lot of room to expand there anyway.

Cheap land fueled the NE Columbia boom. Land purchase is a sizeable chunk of developers budgets.

[BrasilnSC]

I don't see them widening these two roads to 6 lanes. The price tag for that would be huge, that's alot of right of way to buy with hundreds of businesses along the routes being affected. I think that adding more lanes will only bring more development and more traffic, so ultimately nothing would be solved. It would also make these two corridors even less pedestrian friendly. I get so tired of people moving out to these ridiculous 1,000 home subdivisions, complaning about traffic, and getting angry with the city or state for not having enough infrastructure.

[Captain Worley]

I get so tired of people moving out to these ridiculous 1,000 home subdivisions, complaning about traffic, and getting angry with the city or state for not having enough infrastructure.

[Spartan]

I could definitely see it happening. I don't necessarily like the idea, however.

IMO people should move back into the city and not have to worry about continuing sprawl, which is an inefficient means of growth. Widening these roads will just encourage more and more sprawl.

[krazeeboi]

What I suggest is not widening the road, but adding new roads around the current ones to the extent that it gives shoppers an alternate route to get to these shopping centers. We've brought all other aspects of the city to suburbia, why not the street network too?

[Captain Worley]

Great point. I also get sick of all of these single entry/exit subdivisions.

[Spartan]

^ That usually only applies to large subdivisions. But even still, it doesn't create a netwrok of roads, it just further entranches the "collector-artery" concept that is part of the reason there is so much congestion.

[sonofaque86]

Both of these roads need to be 6 lanes. Broad River can be ATROCIOUS as well as Two Notch going farther NE. I guess they did good planning when building Garners Ferry Rd. because it is 6 lanes for a while which really helps with traffic.

[TheCarolinaKing]

I have experienced both areas, and Broad River Rd. SERIOUSLY needs widening, as does two notch. The size increase of the Broad River Rd. exit off of I-20 helps the traffic on I-20, but there has been no adjustment on the road for all the traffic that hits it. I am to a point where I rather take my chances on malfunction junction rather than try to travel down broad river road. For those who don't believe, check it out for yourself, especially between 3pm and 7pm (on Broad River). Plus, there are alot of stores and neighborhood entrances on broad river which adds to the traffic hold ups.

[Hybrid0NE]

I'd say this isn't a great ideal based on the fact that Atlanta's Peachtree is 6 lanes the majority of it's course and it crawls to a stand-still on a regular basis (regardless of the fact that theres denser development along it). I think more North-South corridors are needed, but thats not an option with the existing development. They should've kept the grid going outside of Downtown.

[Spartan]

There is a common misconeption that the only way to reduce congestion is by adding capacity. Truthfully it COULD be done without widening the road, but it would require a more significant alteration of the existing network of roads, and it might require that the businesses give up just a little bit of parking for that cause. You would have to rely on back entrances (meaning not entering from Two Notch.

To give Two Notch and Richland County planners some credit where it is due, think about the Kroger shopping center at Sparkleberry Ln. For an otherwise sprawly development, that actually utilizes some good thinking. You have 4 different access points, one from Sparkleberry, one from Valhalla, and two inbetween that are directly on Two Notch. But all of the different out parcels and other stores rely on those same networks to get in and out.

Look at this map. You can see that the basics are there. You don't have to get on to Two Notch to travel between the shopping center here in the center, and the ones on either side of it. The problem is that the network is not very well defined (i.e. by a true road). The other problem is that this type of loose connectivity is not present up and down Two Notch. Its just in this one area. Further down the road, it will be much harder to retrofit this type of environment.

[Chi2Midlands]

IMO people should move back into the city and not have to worry about continuing sprawl, which is an inefficient means of growth. Widening these roads will just encourage more and more sprawl.

[Chi2Midlands]

To give Two Notch and Richland County planners some credit where it is due, think about the Kroger shopping center at Sparkleberry Ln. For an otherwise sprawly development, that actually utilizes some good thinking. You have 4 different access points, one from Sparkleberry, one from Valhalla, and two inbetween that are directly on Two Notch. But all of the different out parcels and other stores rely on those same networks to get in and out.

[Spartan]

That water analogy for roads is interesting. What happens to water, when the river systems can't handle it?

Hmm.... something to think about.

[irmoscdad]

I can see the thought about widening, but to me all of Columbia simply needs more turn lanes, or "softer" right turns. It seems like bigger cities haev these everywhere and for some Columbia never seems to........

most of the right turns are EXTREME hard rights on major roads (like broad river, two notch, harbison).....if they could add a turn lane or simply cut off the corner to allow a much easier right turn onto major roads, I think it would keep traffic flowing.

To me, the main issue is the constant speed up and slow down so cars can turn at major intersections

[Spartan]

Interesting take. I don't agree with that, however. The root of the problem still lies in the fact that with each of the roads you mentioned, there are no alternate routes to take. Broad River in the St Andrews area may be the exception, but even thats a bit of a stretch.

[waverider]

I can see the arguments that people have made about the widening of Two Notch possibly promoting more suburban sprawl, but is that really the case for Broad River? Traffic really is horrible there (especially afternoon rush hour), and it seems like it's been that way for some time--not the result of any recent suburban development. (I've only been here for six years, though.)

I would really like to see a new Broad River/I-20 interchange, perhaps as a SPUI, but I doubt that's in the plans since the new westbound offramp has been built. And I can only imagine the traffic nightmares that would take place as a result of the construction alone.