Columbia City Council approves $1 million plan to enhance pedestrian safety
Haley Swaino
EDITOR’S NOTE: The story has been corrected to say the amended bill passed.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Columbia City Council has approved a $1 million cost-share agreement with the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission to improve pedestrian safety features, including bigger sidewalks and better signals at the Interstate 70-Highway 63 connector.
“Over Interstate 70, there’s not a lot of places for pedestrian crossing right now,” City of Columbia Public Works Engineering Manager Allison Anderson said. “It’s not a safe place for pedestrians to cross over the highway. There’s no sidewalks over the bridge and there’s no sidewalks even going up to the bridge.”
The ordinance was introduced on May 5 and was up for a second reading at Monday’s meeting. The agreement was amended to add financial responsibilities language within the cost-share agreement and was approved.
Pedestrian safety has been an ongoing conversation in Columbia. The Columbia City Council approved a $96,550 agreement with a third-party professional engineering service in March to conduct a street and intersection pedestrian safety study across the city. The study came amid concerns of panhandlers standing in medians, according to previous reporting.
That agreement came after a previous pedestrian safety study found that from Jan. 1, 2022, to Nov. 21, 2024, 91 crashes involving pedestrians were reported within city limits, resulting in seven deaths and 25 serious injuries.
A record-high 148 pedestrians were also struck or killed across Missouri in 2024, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation.
The cost-share agreement will add pedestrian improvements to the multi-year project to expand I-70 across the state. The estimated cost of pedestrian improvements is $2,032,500, according to the amendment sheet.
Additional pedestrian safety features are being proposed at four separate areas.
I-70/Highway 63 connector
The existing Improve I-70 design-build contract includes the installation of 6-foot sidewalks on the west side from Clark Lane to the Conley Road/East Boulevard roundabout. The proposed project adds a signalized pedestrian crossing across the connector at Conley Road, increases sidewalks to 8 feet on the west side of the bridge and adds 8-foot sidewalks on the east side from Clark Lane to Conley Road.
I-70 Drive S.E.
The proposed project also adds a signalized pedestrian crossing across I-70 Drive S.E. It adds 8-foot sidewalks on the south side from the connector to existing sidewalks at T.G.I Friday’s.
St. Charles Road
The existing Improve I-70 design-build contract includes the installation of 6-foot sidewalks on the west side from south of the I-70 outer road to north of Nilson-Millard Cremation and Burial Center. The proposed project increases sidewalks to 8 feet on the west side of the bridge and adds 8-foot sidewalks on the east side from south of the outage to the Phillips 66 station and from Freedom Drive to the St. Charles Road/Clark Lane roundabout.
Clark Lane
The proposed project adds 6-foot sidewalks on the north side from Lambeth Drive to the connector. It also adds base fill, culvert widening and 5-foot minimum sidewalks on the north side from Woodland Spring Court to the Clark Lane/Hanover Boulevard roundabout.
Anderson said the minimum width for many sidewalks in the city is five foot, but the new sidewalks will be wider.
“The eight foot, which is [what] we’re proposing, is helpful because it allows both walkers and bikers to use the sidewalk and have room for both of them on there,” Anderson said.
She said additional improvements will likely be added as the project continues.
“The next phase, the one where we’re going west, yes, we have a lot more discussions and stuff like that coming on what the best improvements are,” Anderson said.