Columbia to improve intersections for bicyclists, walkers

Some of the busiest intersections in Columbia are in line for makeovers as part of an emerging trail network designed to get more people out of their cars and onto their feet. . . .

Dan Burden, an urban planner who is working on the design, said he agrees that intersections are critical parts of a trail system. . .

Burden knows this after working with the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center in the mid-1990s on an analysis of 40 intersections in three different counties in Florida, as well as looking at advanced techniques in Europe. Their results led to guidelines for better, safer intersections.

“We no longer see intersections as a way to move a greater number of cars and pedestrians as an afterthought,” Burden said. “The more we improve intersections for pedestrians, the more motorists benefit with safer and more efficient conditions.” . . .

Some of the changes include redesigning traffic islands to reduce vehicle speeds and make intersections safer for pedestrians, installing countdown signals, re-striping bike lanes and crosswalks and, in some cases, creating median islands. Construction on these three intersections is slated for later this summer.