Columbia - Rerouting Downtown Trains

[emerging.me]

From WISTV.com....

Project to reroute Columbia trains still in planning

(Columbia) Feb. 1, 2005 - Trains are some of Columbia's most familiar sights and sounds. Few know them better than the thousands of drivers who get stopped every day on Assembly Street.

People like Andy Upp from Red Bank, "Sitting here waiting. I don't like it."

Almost a year and a half ago, state transportation leaders announced plans that would eliminate most of the holdups and headaches on Assembly. SC DOT Commissioner John Hardee says the consolidation project will combine rail lines and get rid of the multiple crossings on Assembly, "There will be a complete open Assembly Street. No railroads."

The original concept for the project called for the removal of as many as a dozen railroad crossings and construction of a railroad bridge over Assembly Street at Whaley.

The project is still in the planning stages.

A DOT spokesman says design work is underway, but the state has yet to obtain full funding for construction.

The University of South Carolina is anxiously awaiting the start of that construction. Rick Kelly with USC says when trains cross Assembly, many drivers detour through the campus, "If you're coming down Assembly Street and hit a train, chances are you're going to cut through the university campus. On game days at the football stadium, getting people in and out, people from our campus, getting them down, students and others, people coming from out of state to go to football games, Assembly Street is a major corridor."

City officials say the project will improve both safety and quality of life. Mayor Bob Coble says even if it takes time to get started, "This will be a long term project, but with the state taking the lead, I think one day we'll get there."

By Jack Kuenzie

[btoy]

They are doing something similar in Greer as well, they are combining the CSX line and Norfolk Southern line to free about 15 acres downtown fro development.

[orulz]

Looking at a map, the train tracks south of downtown Columbia resemble a plate of spaghetti. I'd say the entire setup could use reorganization. The chaotic state of railroad tracks in downtown Columbia is no doubt due to the "organic" nature of railroads: every railroad company had to have its own tracks, and little or no attention was paid to the location of other companies' tracks. But when the railroads started merging, they were stuck with the old tracks and had to find some way to connect it all together, hence the chaos.

[DrumCorpsAlum]

There is a pedestrian walkway near where I live, that spans 2 tracks. I personally don't mind the abundance of trains here, the many tracks make for great photography. I did talk to the project manager for Olympia Mills about a month ago, and he said that there would be a re-routing in the process in that area.

[Spartan]

I'll believe this when I see it happen. They said they were going to do this two or three years ago and its still in planning.

It is a good plan though, I would like to see it come to life.

Way back there was a plan to remove the line that goes through USC and 5 points. This is the line that is responsible for killing the most drunk college kids.

There is a pdf out there somewhere that illustrates their plan.

[waccamatt]

The railroad industry is very much intertwined with Columbia's history. Many of the railroad tracks have been put below street level, but here are still some that block traffic. I really love the trains coming through the city although it can be annoying when you get stopped by one. Maybe I'll do a railroad photo shoot soon.