Safety and Congestion Relief

Augusta Street Safety Improvements - Phase 2

Public Meeting Scheduled for Tuesday, October 3

Following a successful pilot project implementing traffic safety improvements along Augusta Street, the City will soon make those changes permanent and begin work on a second phase. 

A public meeting on Tuesday, October 3, 2023, will provide project information and gather feedback from residents before City engineers design a permanent traffic and infrastructure plan to improve safety and reduce congestion along the corridor. 

The public meeting Oct. 3 is from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 2310 Augusta St. The meeting will begin with a short presentation, followed by the opportunity for attendees to visit informational stations to talk with City staff and representatives from Stantec (the City’s consultant) and the state Department of Transportation (SCDOT).

East Parkins Mill Traffic Safety

City staff conducted public meetings on May 9 and July 26, 2023, to present traffic data and options to calm traffic and improve safety on East Parkins Mill Road, between Ridge and Parkins Mill Roads. The next step will be for staff to incorporate resident feedback with feasibility studies and funding options to develop a final recommended plan of action. 
View the public presentation
Comment on East Parkins Mill safety

Woodruff Road Corridor Safety Project

Slated to begin construction in September 2023, SCDOT will reconstruct signals, install concrete medians and repave at various locations along Woodruff Road, between Verdae Boulevard/Roper Mountain Road and Bagwell Street.

Complete Streets: Resurfacing and Restriping

In addition to the ongoing street repavement plan, the City will target 23 locations as "complete streets" projects. This design process focuses on safety and mobility for all users. It includes updated pavement markings to better integrate with a multi-modal transportation system. The pavement markings will incorporate pedestrian ramps, signage and pedestrian crossings with traffic calming measures.

Targeted streets include:

  • Arlington Avenue
  • Birnie Street
  • Boyce Avenue
  • Carolina Point Parkway
  • Cateechee Avenue
  • East and West Broad Street
  • East McBee Avenue
  • East and West Washington Street
  • Edgewood Drive
  • Falls Street
  • Grove Road
  • Hawthorne Drive
  • Hillside Drive
  • Innovation Drive
  • McBee Avenue
  • Millennium Boulevard
  • Pettigru Street
  • Queen Street
  • Richardson Street
  • Textile Avenue
  • White Oak Drive

More about the City's repavement plans

ROAD DIETS

In November 2022, following the success of the Augusta Street project, City Council voted in support of three additional lane reduction projects:

  • Grove Road – Henrydale Avenue to Augusta Street
    The road diet will include restriping the road from four travel lanes (two in each direction) to three lanes (one in each direction with a center turn lane). This will allow for the creation of 4-foot buffered bike lanes and a designated turn lane for making left turns along the road. The Grove Road lane reduction project will be part of a larger resurfacing plan projected to be complete by summer of 2024.
  • Cleveland Street – McIver Street/Southland Avenue to East Faris Road
    The proposed improvements will involve reconfiguring the road from five travel lanes (two in each direction with a center turn lane) to three travel lanes (one in each direction with a center turn lane). This change will reallocate the outside westbound travel lane (on the YMCA side of the road) to a two-way protected cycle track and reallocate the outside eastbound travel lane to landscape and/or concrete medians. The project will also involve an enhanced mid-block crosswalk with a median refuge and pedestrian flashing beacon signs near the intersection of Crescent Avenue.
    City Council will need to designate and approve funding for the work. 
  • Elford Street – Academy Street to Church Street
    The proposed improvements will involve eliminating the existing traffic signal at the Academy/Elford intersection, making Elford Street a right in/right out only at Academy, and reconfiguring Elford Street from five travel lanes (two in each direction with a center turn lane) to three travel lanes (one in each direction with a center median). This project will be implemented as part of the Cultural Corridor Improvement Project. Bids for the work are anticipated by the end of 2023.

Road Diet

road-diet

Roundabouts

roundabout illustration

 Medians

median

Crosswalks

Crosswalk illustration

Traffic Calming Terms


Road diet: Lane reduction technique to reduce the total number of travel lanes via use of a center, shared turning lane or median.

Roundabout: Circular roadway improvement used on higher volume streets to allocate right-of-way between competing vehicle movements. Roundabouts limit vehicle speeds and control flow on multiple streets simultaneously.

Landscaped Median: Area at the center of a roadway raised above roadbed to allow adequate width for plantings. 

Pedestrian Refuge Island: A type of median used to reduce pedestrian crashes by allowing a safe place to stop at the midpoint of roadway.

Enhanced Crosswalks: Use of enhanced painting techniques to make pedestrian crosswalks more visible to oncoming traffic.