Council approves Ridgemont Park subdivision as cul-de-sac
A west Columbia subdivision will proceed as a cul-de-sac, despite traffic concerns from some neighbors.
The Columbia City Council approved the preliminary plan for Ridgemont Park, a 24-home subdivision built between Ridgemont Drive and Ridgefield Road, just off Stadium Boulevard. The council unanimously accepted a revised plan for a cul-de-sac there, with its entrance on Ridgemont Drive.
The council voted 4-3 last month to change it to a cul-de-sac from a connection of Ridgefield Road to Ridgemont Drive. Residents on the former felt connecting the streets would open up the road to fast, unsafe traffic. The cul-de-sac plan left residents on the latter gathering support for an alternative plan, highlighting their road’s significant speeding issue.
Both roads are in the top 12 of the city’s ranking of streets in need of traffic calming.
Mayor Brian Treece also did not require the developer, Pate-Jones, to pay for about $20,000 of traffic calming systems like speed tables. He said the existing traffic problem was the city’s to bear. Tim Crockett, the engineer of the project, said the new plan required them to get rid of one home, an estimated loss for them of $60,000.
Marty Katz, a resident on Ridgemont Drive, said he was extremely disappointed in the vote. He told ABC 17 News cars speed down the hill heading east towards the planned entrance of the neighborhood. The cul-de-sac plan only provides a single point of access on Ridgemont Drive, and he fears it will make pedestrian activity even more unsafe.
