Columbia, We Have Ignition: Streetscape Outreach Launches!

The City of Columbia launched an aggressive new public outreach effort yesterday in support of the upcoming streetscape project on Main Street. Key City staff and a representative from Oates & Associates, the project's lead engineers, presented to a standing room only crowd at the monthly meeting of the Columbia Chamber.

Presenters said that the City and its partners will deploy public forums, one-on-one meetings with business and property owners, press releases and community newsletters, direct phone access to the contractor, and a Twitter feed over the next several months to keep up communication. The staffers and elected officials in attendance (Mayor Kevin Hutchinson and Alderman Candace Hejna) solicited and answered questions from merchants and property owners in the audience:

1. How can we have better pedestrian connections between Main Street and outlying areas of the city? Mayor Hutchinson explained that the City adopted a Bicycle & Greenways Alignment Plan in 2006 to link areas of Columbia together, and that this plan requires future funding to complete.
2. How will sidewalk width change and what's the width of the bump-outs?When completed, the new sidewalks will be two feet wider in most areas than they are now, and the bump-outs will be eight feet wide.
3. Will the stamped brick be slick when wet and will it be more difficult to walk on due to its texture? Those sections are not designed to be walked on--the areas designed for pedestrian travel have been examined and approved by an organization that works to improve accessibility.
4. How can my business survive the disruption of major construction? That's the purpose of the outreach effort--the City and it partners will be working with individual businesses, the Chamber, and others to keep communication strong, as well as to help plan and execute joint activities that will help keep business traffic moving.
5. Will the Chamber lose its banners and decorations that have been mounted on a different style of light standards? Alderman Hejna related that the City Council had asked to have the standards raised by five feet to accommodate the street decorations.