Columbia, SC (WLTX) -- Earlier this month, WLTX brought you a story of resistance.
Residents in the Whitehall neighborhood in Northwest Columbia were fighting a proposed bridge over I-26 connecting Tram Road to Beatty Road.
The $3 to $5 million bridge was part of the SCDOT's Carolina Crossroads project. Friday morning, that all changed.
After weeks of pushback, and public meetings with transportation officials, the planned bridge has been canceled.
Monday, Lexington Representative Chip Huggins, delivered over 1,000 forms to the DOT from Whitehall neighbors expressing concerns about the project.
Many wrote about crime, a drop in property values and a whole lot of noise as concerns should the bridge be built.
"That's the key, having this type of glue to stick together as a community. To have real reasons, not just, 'I don't want it in my backyard'," said Huggins. "We're very grateful that [the DOT] listened."
Friday, Huggins received an e-mail from the Carolina Crossroads project manager.
The e-mail says in the early stages of the project, SCDOT received public comments requesting more connectivity across I-26. That's one of the reasons why they created the proposed bridge. The bridge would also have benefits for emergency response.
After reviewing public input, transportation officials determined the bridge would not have a significant effect on the project's primary focus: To improve traffic in that area. For that reason, officials elected to remove the bridge going forward.
"I'm glad what we were told had a good ending, and the DOT did review it, and they agreed with the community," said Huggins. "It's a great day, certainly for Whitehall. It's a great day for the Beatty Road community over there, and it's a great day for South Carolina."
Whitehall resident Barry Amick helped spearhead the initiative to stop the bridge. The proposed plans would have placed the bridge 150 feet away from his mother's house.
"I put signs on one of my trucks and drove around every street in Whitehall the day before we had to have these forms filled out," said Amick. "The whole neighborhood came together."
Amick says thanks to a collective effort, it saved the neighborhood.
"Just by everyone being relentless and helping out in every way they could, it's just showing that we have a voice and we stopped a situation," he said. "Today has been a great day knowing there is no bridge going to be built on Tram Road."