By admin 
Meeting Street is an apt name for West Columbia’s most prominent thoroughfare. It’s where you might meet a friend for coffee and shopping, a colleague for lunch or a partner for drinks.
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It’s rich in restaurants and retail, including some of the area’s best-known spots for dining, antiquing and a leisurely Sunday morning stroll. But darting across the road to get to Savage Craft after parking across four lanes of traffic might come with crossed fingers — despite a pedestrian sign, cars still often barrel down that road with little regard.
That’s where the city’s long-planned improvements come in.
West Columbia announced plans for the project early three years ago, with promises to transform the area along Meeting Street. This month, city council approved nearly a base sum of $4.5 million for the work, after choosing AOS Specialty Contractors as the lowest responsible bidders. Bids initially went out in the spring of 2025.
The city declined to grant The State an interview for this story. But according to project plans, the project aims to transform the area’s existing entertainment and retail hub, from the Gervais Street Bridge to the city limits at Wattling Road and Woodberry Road, more accessible and aesthetically pleasing.
The project will reduce the number of lanes for traffic and add crosswalks to prioritize pedestrians. It will also allow for more on-street parking and tree space.
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Plans for the area also include the following, according the city’s website.
- Enhancement of movement and parking with dedicated turn lanes, landscaped islands, on-street parking and pedestrian crosswalks on Meeting Street. This will utilize American Recovery Plan Act funds.
- High visibility crosswalks at the intersections of Meeting Street, State Street, and Sunset Boulevard. This will be funded by a grant from the South Carolina Department of Transportation.
- New street lighting along Meeting Street from S. Lucas Street to 12th Street and Charleston Highway to improve pedestrian safety, traffic and parking, as well as landscaping enhancements.
West Columbia is working with the West Columbia Beautification Foundation, the South Carolina Department of Transportation, Dominion Energy, private property owners and other organizations on improving the corridor, according to the city’s website.
City officials listed the Meeting Street corridor as a place for improvements in a 2018 citywide redevelopment plan, The State previously reported. But it took around four years for the project to make significant progress.
West Columbia previously allocated some $3.5 million of the $8.9 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds it received to the project in December 2022. The city then approved a contract with The Landplan Group in 2024 and has been working with the Columbia-based landscape architect to finalize plans. The city is required by American Rescue Plan rules to spend the funds it allocated by the end of 2026, The State previously reported.
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