West Columbia neighborhood approved despite traffic concern
Developers of a new neighborhood will need to build several systems to slow traffic when it begins construction in west Columbia.
The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission voted 6-3 Thursday in favor of the Ridgemont Park subdivision plan. Pate-Jones Construction wants to build 25 single-family homes just south of Ridgemont Drive, near Stadium Boulevard and College Park Drive. The group will also give nearly six acres of land to Columbia Parks and Recreation as a “buffer” for the County House Trail, which snakes through the land.
A dozen residents came to the Thursday meeting to express concern with the plan, which would involve extending nearby Ridgefield Road to connect with Ridgemont Dr. The two roads rank eleventh and twelfth on the city’s list of neighborhood roads due for traffic “claiming” measures, meant to reduce speed. Staff agreed that some drivers go 10 to 15 miles per hour over the 25 m.p.h. speed limit.
“Cars go, I’m not kidding you, forty to fifty miles an hour both east and west in front of my house,” said Adam Clapper, a resident on Ridgemont Dr.
Many other residents in the Ridgemont neighborhood expressed a similar feeling. Drivers looking to skip over busier roads like Chapel Hill Rd. or Stadium Blvd. take streets like Ridgemont to get across town. Ridgefield Rd. is already a dead-end street, but those living on it now fear a connection through a new subdivision will make worsen traffic and speeding.
Commissioners unanimously voted against the plan at first, but found a majority when it added the requirement to provide traffic calming. Engineer Tim Crockett, hired to build the new subdivision, said he could build “bump outs” at the extension of Ridgefield Rd., and also add speed tables to certain intersections to slow people down. Some commissioners felt even with these features, the development would add dozens of new cars, and do little to solve the issue of speed there.
The Columbia City Council will still need to approve the subdivision plan.
