Transportation committee holds off on Dublin Avenue extension plans
The city of Columbia has had its eye on extending Dublin Road to Scott Boulevard to create another east-west corridor for the past two decades.
The possible project is a part of the city’s Long-Range Transportation Plan under the Major Roadway Plan.
ABC 17 News reported at the beginning of the month when some Dublin Avenue residents wrote letters to group expressing their concerns with the project.
“There’s just no physical or fiscal sense for the city to do it,” said Les Borgmeyer, who has lived on Dublin Avenue for 23 years.
He voiced his concerns of increased traffic on his neighborhood street at the Columbia Area Transportation Study Organization (CATSO) meeting Thursday. He said the extension would create more traffic on his quiet neighborhood street thus creating a safety hazard for the children who live there.
“Suddenly we have vehicles that can use it as a cut through and bring more traffic into the area that are just going to be passing through with no intention of actually staying there,” he said.
Other long-time Dublin Avenue residents expressed similar concerns about the project.
“The area is already developed. I don’t really see a need for it,” said Ernie Lee. “To be a part of a long-term plan, doesn’t really make any sense.”
Residents argue the extension still wouldn’t provide a direct connection from Fairview Road to Scott Boulevard, because of an intersection in the neighborhood at Bray Avenue.
CATSO said the extension may be needed as western Columbia continues to grow.
“I’m not so sure the additional traffic would warrant the expense of creating an extension,” said Andy Smith.
Smith and other residents also raised questions over how the extension would affect the park at the end of the street.
At its meeting Thursday, CATSO voted to hold another public hearing on the project next year when the group begins updating it’s Long-Range Transportation Plan. The group could decide to take it off the list, which is what many Dublin Avenue residents have expressed in their letters to committee.
