After months of disruption, Columbia's East Broadway improvement project has been completed.
A three-quarter mile stretch of the arterial street has been widened to two lanes in each direction, and fitted with bike/ped facilities according to the new street design standards that resulted from PedNet's 3-year campaign. There are sidewalks, a pedway on one side (actually, the pedway switches sides at the Hinkson bridge) and wide travel lanes to accommodate on-street cyclists.
From the intersection with Old Highway 63, a new sidewalk has been installed on the south side of Broadway (see photo, above left). On the north side, a pedway (wide sidewalk for pedestrians, cyclists and wheelchair users) has been set back from the road where it doubles as the Stephens Lake perimeter trail. At the Hinkson Creek, the pedway becomes a sidewalk on the bridge, and also connects with a new trail segment that passes under the bridge beside the creek (above right). The trail segment then connects with the southside sidewalk, which becomes a pedway on the bridge (below) and for a further half-mile - most of the way to Highway 63.
The trail segment under the bridge connects with the 2-mile Stephens Lake perimeter trail north of Broadway. On the south side, a new project funded with a federal grant will connect these paths with the Grindstone Nature Area and the Hinkson Trail, through construction of more than 1 mile of new trail segments and a pedway along Old Highway 63.
All of these additional facilities and extra connectivity will create more journeys that can be reasonably accomplished through active transportation. Although there are still some barriers (such as crossing Broadway from the southside pedway to get to the new commercial developments along Trimble Road), PedNet members should start to explore these new facilities by foot, bike, and wheelchair.
