Midlands city hopes 3 upcoming projects will transform major thoroughfare. What to expect
 "The city of West Columbia wants to revitalize major parts of U.S. Highway 1 with three roadway projects.")
West Columbia is in the earliest stages of reimagining what a significant part of town could look like in a few years, as redevelopment efforts creep further into the city.
The city is turning its efforts towards U.S. Highway 1 past Ninth Street, a stretch that connects the Triangle City neighborhood to Interstate 26, with a series of upcoming projects that could revitalize the stretch of road. The plans come just a few months after West Columbia’s city council gave final approval for developers to replace the vacant Capitol Square shopping center across from the House of Raeford chicken plant.
That massive mixed-use project would fill in one of the last gaps of undeveloped property along the Congaree River, and add to already extensive redevelopment efforts in the city’s River District, right where U.S. 1 crosses the Gervais Street Bridge to downtown Columbia.
The efforts are part of the larger redevelopment push that city leaders have prioritized over the last decade, with an emphasis on beautifying the area, drawing more businesses and housing, and making it more pedestrian friendly. This week, the city is poised to take another step in its push to achieve these goals.
On Tuesday, the city council was set to vote on whether to hire Conduit Planning, an SC-based urban planning firm, to create plans for revitalizing part of Highway 1 from Ninth Street up to Dreher Road. The two mile stretch will connect two other projects meant to make the area prettier and safer for people on foot or bikes, the city’s mayor Tem Miles explained.
A road diet – a transportation planning tool that relies on cutting down road lanes and adding things like parking and bike lanes – is in the works for Meeting Street/U.S. 1 from the Gervais Street Bridge to Ninth Street. That project, which has been in talks since at least 2018, is expected to cost around $3.5 million and the hope is to have it completed by the end of 2026.
The other project, which the state Department of Transportation began work on last fall, stretches down U.S. 1 from Dreher Road to Wren Road right near the U.S. 1 Metro Flea Market. Changes to that area, which includes portions of the road that stretch into unincorporated Lexington County, are set to include added safety measures like new medians, crosswalks and traffic lights.
“We’ve got two transformative projects in the works so we’re trying [with this project] to figure out what we need to do between those two areas to best connect them,” Miles said.
Between the three projects, city officials are hoping to completely transform the major stretch of road that runs through West Columbia. Parts of U.S. 1 from Interstate 26 to the Gervais Street Bridge saw 38,000 cars a day in 2023, according to Department of Transportation traffic counts.
“The main issue with that section of Highway 1 is that it’s the only section that really hasn’t gotten serious attention and since it’s a central corridor of our city, this is a much-needed step in the revitalization process,” said West Columbia City Councilman David Moye.
The plans for the section from Ninth Street to Dreher Road are still in early development. After zeroing in on the planning firm, the city will move forward with entering into a contract with the firm to plan what the area could look like – some priorities include beautification, creating pedestrian-friendly areas and increasing property value, according to city documents. The city aims to pay for the project planning through a grant, Miles told The State.
This story was originally published April 1, 2025 at 1:24 PM.
