Greenway along Rocky Branch closer to reality

Long a flood-induced headache for folks living in or passing through the Olympia/Granby neighborhoods, Rocky Branch in the next few years could become a showpiece drawing strollers and exercisers.

Neighborhood advocates say the Kroger grocery store chain and Vulcan Materials, owner of the Olympia quarry, have committed to help build a Rocky Branch Greenway from Assembly Street to the riverfront Granby Park. Company spokesmen are more cautious in their characterization of the pledges, and pending federal flood map changes loom as hurdles, but advocates believe the flood-control and recreation project is going to happen.

“It’s within our grasp,” said Granby neighborhood leader Bob Guild.

“This was one of our goals,” said Olympia neighborhood leader Vi Hendley. “It’s amazing stuff, but it’s been so slow.”

The greenway dream bubbled to the surface when Columbia announced it was putting the Capital City Stadium property on the market. After plans for a Wal-Mart at that location fell through, Atlanta-based developer Bright-Meyers worked out a deal for a Kroger grocery store and student apartments.

Bright-Meyers had pledged to improving Rocky Branch choke points, and Kroger tentatively has agreed to a site design that includes a paved walking path along a wider channel for the creek from Assembly Street to Olympia Park. Continuing from Olympia Park to the Congaree River, Vulcan is amenable to a plan to move the creek route farther north on its property and add a parallel walkway.

Both companies remain cautious about the plans.

“Kroger is in a preliminary process, and additional approval and validation of certain criteria is necessary,” said Glynn Jenkins, public relations director for the Atlanta division of Kroger. “A part of the proposed Kroger development, we are evaluating our options to construct the greenway on the property. Therefore, at this time, we have no additional comments.”

Vulcan spokesman Jimmy Fleming said the company likes the idea. “It’s a conceptual plan that everyone is interested in,” he said.

The Birmingham, Ala.-based company wants to ensure the benefits of opening up a new area on its property for mining offset the costs of moving the creek’s path slightly to the north and building a walking trail. Vulcan also would like to see commitments from the city, Richland County, Kroger and the University of South Carolina to stop upstream problems.

“The entire fix has to be looked at,” Fleming said. “Otherwise you have spent a lot of effort at one end and not fixed the problem at the other end.”

The city of Columbia also has pledged $500,000 from the sale of the stadium property to pay for flood control, which is the greenway’s purpose. Joey Jaco, utilities and engineering director for the city, said the project needs approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is working on new flood plain maps.

“If they can get through FEMA and the Corps, it could happen,” Jaco said. “It’s just (going to take) time.”

With a wide grassy slope up to a paved walkway, the project would be designed to allow the creek to jump its normal banks during heavy rains, reducing more serious flooding problems. Among the keys would be widening the tunnel through an old railroad berm along the extension of Bluff Road, before the creek hits Olympia Park, and again where it flows under Olympia Avenue near the Olympia and Granby mills apartments, Guild said.

Rocky Branch begins on the north side of Gervais Street and flows under Five Points, draining much of the southeastern quarter of downtown Columbia. While the greenway plan for the end of the creek’s course won’t solve the flooding at the choke spots in the University of South Carolina campus and at Whaley and Main streets, it will aid in moving flood waters more quickly to the river.

Rocky Branch floods those spots about a dozen times per year, blocking the roads and often swamping motorists who tempt the waters. That flooding also contributes to backups in Five Points because rainwater in that area has nowhere to go when water backs up upstream.

This story was originally published April 24, 2015 at 6:25 PM with the headline "Greenway along Rocky Branch closer to reality."