Riverbanks Zoo to get pedestrian bridge from penny tax dollars
Riverbanks Zoo and Garden will get a railroad-crossing pedestrian bridge in the next year thanks to funding by the Richland County Transportation Penny Program.
County Council last week approved spending $2.7 million in funds from the penny-on-the-dollar transportation sales tax to build a pedestrian bridge stretching from the zoo’s parking lots to its new entrance. Currently, zoo-goers have to cross over an active railroad track to enter the zoo, the most popular tourist attraction in the state.
Design plans for the pedestrian bridge include both stairs and an elevator. Construction on the bridge could begin this fall and be completed by next summer.
“(We) are excited to be able to fund a project that will provide a safer alternative for visitors to Riverbanks Zoo,” said Rob Perry, the county’s transportation director.
A second $1.3 million phase will continue transportation improvements at Riverbanks in the future, with design plans likely to begin in early 2017. Phase two plans are still largely undefined, Perry said, but may include work on the highway interchange entering the zoo, such as installing a traffic signal or extending the length of the ramp.
Reach Ellis at (803) 771-8307.
FOLLOWING THE PENNY
Richland County’s penny-on-the-dollar transportation tax has generated $111.9 million since collection began in May 2013.
The majority of the money – a 22-year total expected to exceed $1 billion – is going toward road and intersection improvements, with other portions being spent on public transit, pedestrian, bike and greenway projects.
This year and next will see the first major projects start to come out of the ground.
Work is already started or planned to begin soon on projects that include the Greene Street beautification in downtown’s Vista, the widening of portions of Hard Scrabble Road and North Main Street and a half-dozen intersection improvements throughout the county.
This story was originally published September 11, 2015 at 11:32 AM with the headline "Riverbanks Zoo to get pedestrian bridge from penny tax dollars."