COLUMBIA, S.C. — Multiple new safety features are on the way for one of the most traveled roads in Columbia.
Margaret Neville is the owner of the Mad Platter along Millwood Avenue in Columbia. Through 20 years, she's seen the area develop but says safety has become a big concern.
"The speed limit is 35 miles per hour. People usually go around 50 miles per hour down Millwood Avenue and it's because of the way that the road is set up."
According to District 72 Representative Seth Rose, the construction this week is a new phase of a project that started just down the road and is already seeing safety improvements.
"Millwood Avenue is obviously a major thoroughfare, and essentially we had three deaths that happened in a short span of each other in the same vicinity, and I asked the Department of Transportation to look into it," Rose said. "A study was done, we were able to get funding. Since the light has been put in, there's been no casualties but here we are coming to phase two of the improvements, and I've been very proud of what we've been able to accomplish."
On Thursday, we saw large construction vehicles stripping parts of Millwood and temporarily closing some lanes of traffic. Rose said the new road will have a focus on keeping pedestrians and drivers safe.
"There's going to be a major resurfacing, there's going to be a restriping of the lanes, there will be a bike lane and most notably there will be a crosswalk around Dreher High School. Also, the curbs for the sidewalks will be improved such that someone in a wheelchair or a motorized cart, can get onto the sidewalks without having to hit the curb."
Columbia resident Carter Bruns says the construction and attention to Millwood are crucial when compared to other parts of the city.
"If you compare to say Devine Street, where there's tons of places to stop and people do follow the speed limit, it just seems like there's some inequity there," Bruns said. "I think that's super important."
Neville says she's grateful for the upgrades as well, especially with so much development coming to the street.
"I feel that a lot of pedestrians do not feel safe on Millwood because of how fast people travel but I'm hoping that with the advent of more businesses, that possibly people will realize that there are more pedestrians on Millwood," she said.
No concrete timeline has been released, but Rose tells News19 crews should be wrapped up by the end of the year.