Columbia’s downtown has seen lots of change in recent years. New restaurants and shops have attracted more people to the city’s center. Improvements have been made to make this area more walkable and accessible.While Main Street and other roads are receiving more attention and interest, Sumter Street, which runs parallel to Main, lacks the same appeal.
Although it’s one of Columbia’s major thoroughfares, stretching from the University of South Carolina’s campus through downtown and into the residential neighborhood of Cottowntown, Sumter Street looks far different than surrounding streets.
There’s very little tree cover or hardscaping to make the street more appealing to pedestrians and cyclists despite it intersecting with hotels, health care facilities and public transportation.
Between Gervais and Taylor streets, Sumter is home or adjacent to several restaurants, businesses and hotels.
According to 2022 pedestrian and bike county data provided by the City of Columbia, Sumter Street between Washington and Hampton streets has an estimated 408 pedestrians daily during the spring and 525 daily during the fall. This number rises sharply on the weekends to an average of 2,835 during spring weekends and 1,966 in the fall.
Sumter Street in Columbia
The same count estimated seven cyclists daily during the spring and 33 in the fall on weekdays.
Matt Kennell, President and CEO of the Main Street District, said Sumter Street is a critical road for the downtown area.
“It’s a definite critical connecting street, really between the University of South Carolina and Columbia’s neighborhoods,” Kennell said.
He believes the revitalization and development occurring along North Main Street and in the Bull Street District are another reason why Sumter Street has become a more prominent passage.
“It definitely needs more attention,” Kennell said.
In the data analysis, the city noted recommendations to add more trees, landscaping and a “road diet” to improve pedestrian safet y on Sumter Street.
Concept art shows how a road diet could transform Sumter Street in downtown Columbia.
In 2015, the City of Columbia adopted the Walk Bike Columbia Pedestrian & Bicycle Master Plan to guide infrastructure improvements to make the city more pedestrian and bike-friendly. It outlines recommended changes and phases for various streets around the city.
According to Lucinda Statler, planning administrator with Columbia’s Planning and Development Services, Sumter Street is listed as a crucial project.
“It is one of the four catalyst projects that was identified for being a cycle track, which is a separated cycle facility,” Statler said.
Implementing such a change would mean reducing Sumter Street from five to three lanes, according to the Master Plan.
Statler said the low traffic numbers on Sumter Street make the plan feasible.
In 2022, Sumter Street averaged 6,600 vehicles per day compared to 29,200 on Gervais Street in the Main Street district, according to traffic data from the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT).
“So, Sumter Street presents a great opportunity for a road diet, which would allow for fewer travel lanes, separated bicycle facilities and you could still keep on-street parking,” Statler said.
While no improvements have begun, the city received an $80,000 grant as part of the Safe Streets and Roads for All program, which was established by the passage of the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Statler said this funding is designed to create a holistic safety action plan. Once completed, a municipality can apply for implementation funding through the same grant.
“An action plan is primarily focused on pedestrian and bicycle safety,” she explained. “So, it’s looking at measures that can be taken to reduce the number of fatalities and injuries on the roads.”
There are priority projects based on existing infrastructure, available funding and traffic levels, Statler explained. But decisions are often made based on available funding.
According to Statler, several of the roads in the downtown area are maintained by SCDOT, including most of Sumter Street. Infrastructure improvements are often dependent on when the state schedules maintenance, and any improvements to Sumter Street would need approval by the city and SCDOT.
Statler noted that even if the city doesn’t consider a street a priority, it may receive improvements faster due to SCDOT’s schedule. According to the Walk Bike Plan, Sumter Street is a Phase One project.
“It’s like, ‘Well, we need to do this now,” Statler said. “Because we have an opportunity to do it.”
Mai Turner and David Stelzer, co-owners of Sound Bites Eatery, said part of the reason they chose to open their restaurant on Sumter Street was the revitalization of Main Street. Turner said they thought the growth of Main Street would impact Sumter Street.
“We were really excited about everything that was going on over there,” Turner said. “ And we’re like, ‘Well, how could it not?’ There isn’t much space left on Main Street; it’s got to spill over here somewhere.”
Turner and Stelzer said most of their customers are from surrounding offices and hotels. But parking is a challenge.
”I do know a lot of people who don’t come down here because they say they can’t find parking,” Tuner said.
Along with parking difficulties, Turner and Stelzer said Sumter Street lacks the pedestrian accessibility that’s found on Main Street.
“If it were more walkable just to cross the street to get over here, or just safer in general, people from the hospital would come over here more,” Turner said.
Stelzer said he hopes to see improvements made to Sumter Street that mirror the updates found on Main Street.
”I really would love to see them re-do it like Main Street,” he said. “With slanted parking and a median and two lanes.”
