Business View Magazine | May 2019

289 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE MAY 2019 knew we would be tearing up sidewalks to access water lines, etc., we layered those two projects – put the sidewalks back in with the landscaping buffer to the higher standards the new plan had created – and the synergy of them helped our dollars go further.” Coordination was key. Since many streets throughout the city were already scheduled to be repaved, the City worked with Lexington County and South Carolina Department of Transportation to postpone the paving until after the water line work was fully completed. “With regards to the Knox Abbott project, if you’re heading from the airport into downtown Columbia to the State House or University of South Carolina, you are likely entering on Knox Abbott,” says Rachelle Moody, Assistant to the City Manager. “There is a high traffic count, and we didn’t have enough buffers between pedestrians and cars, so we we’ve done a comprehensive plan: closing some driveways, and putting sidewalks farther away from the road. We’re moving all the power lines to one side of the road and raising them. We’re also planting a number of trees along the roadway, installing electrical conduits and burying all of the communication lines. So, in addition to having fewer poles along the road, we’ll have significantly fewer lines running as well. We were able to bury the electric transmission lines around one of our busiest intersections, which will improve that area significantly and make it safer. The project had a total cost of $8.5 million, but is well worth it.” The Knox Abbott project does more than physically improve this important and iconic part of the City; it contributes to an already economically viable area in a way that will inspire people who travel through the city to stop and shop and eat and stay overnight. These two large investment projects are paving the way for economic development and revitalization. Businesses along the Knox Abbott corridor are thrilled to see how it’s improving the aesthetics of their property – even though the work is being done in the right of way, they’re experiencing tremendous benefits. “We’ve had CAYCE , SOUTH CAROL INA