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Columbia leaders have for years dreamed of removing the dozen-plus railroad crossings on Assembly Street and through the Olympia neighborhood.

Trains come through the crossings with little warning, stopping traffic at the tracks while the often long line of box cars rolls past. State and local leaders have talked for decades about fixing this problem, which can cause major traffic disruptions that ripple across town.

Now, the plan is as close as it’s ever been to reality. After decades of conversation, the South Carolina Department of Transportation is presenting three options for what Columbia might look like if the train tracks were rerouted.

The plans call for a dramatic reshaping of a portion of Columbia, including building new bridges and relocating homes and businesses. But project leaders say they are taking public feedback seriously and will be collecting input from residents until Jan. 11 with hopes of creating the least disruption.

The S.C. Department of Transportation has spent years narrowing down options for how to execute the plan, going from more than 25 possible new traffic patterns down to the three options presented at a public information meeting Wednesday evening, explained Department of Transportation engineer Joey McIntyre.

The plans call for either building rail bridges over Assembly Street and lowering the roadway, or building roadway bridges for vehicles to move above the tracks.

The work has previously been estimated to cost around $200 million. The Department of Transportation is looking at federal grants to pay for the bulk of the work. The project has also received $35 million in state earmarks over the last three budget cycles, with help from former Rep. Kirkman Finlay, current Rep. Seth Rose and Rep. Todd Rutherford.

The city of Columbia and Richland County have also previously pledged to contribute $15 million between the two governments.

The specifics of the three plans are:

Plan A and Plan A-1, as DOT is referring to them, both call for building rail bridges over Assembly Street, as well as consolidating and abandoning a portion of CSX track. Both plans would also require Assembly Street to be lowered 18 feet to accommodate the new bridges.

The plans differ slightly in how they would affect residential and arterial streets. For example, Plan A would close 11 street-level railroad crossings, whereas Plan A-1 would close 15.

Both projects anticipate needing to relocate five residences and 15 and 17 businesses, respectively.

Plan B would leave most of the railroad tracks alone, instead opting to build the roadways over and around the tracks. New roadway bridges would be built to raise Assembly over the tracks near the former Capital City Ballpark, and another bridge over Catawba and Whaley streets. This plan would impact one residence and 15 businesses or institutions, according to the DOT. Plan B would also be the most expensive.

Right now, the department is in the planning and design phase of the project, construction is still a long ways off, said Katie Curry, a DOT consultant with the engineering firm STA who is leading the work, explained.

Residents in the area had been concerned about previous plans, particularly one that would have rerouted traffic on Huger Street to Catawba Street. But now, most of those concerns have been resolved, said Vi Hendley, who sits on the Mill Village District board.

“We’re in a much better place,” she said, but added the neighborhoods still have a few concerns about ensuring the neighborhood grid is protected. Their preference would be Plan A-1, she said, but with an amendment to keep Lincoln Street open.

Residents can comment on the plans at scdotgis.online/assemblystreetrail, by emailing McIntyreJD@scdot.org or by calling 803-737-1842,

This story was originally published December 12, 2024, 1:02 PM.

The State

(803) 771-8330

Morgan Hughes covers Columbia news for The State. She previously reported on health, education and local governments in Wyoming. She has won awards in Wyoming and Wisconsin for feature writing and investigative journalism. Her work has also been recognized by the South Carolina Press Association.

We had a reader write in sharing a love for our historic marker map — which you should add to if you haven’t already — and asked if we would consider doing something similar for local holiday lights. Reader Stanton shared, “Every year we go driving around looking at Christmas lights. It would be nice to have suggestions for all those neighborhoods that decorate at level 10.”

So, we’re looking for you to inform us on this one. Readers and we alike are looking to grab hot cocoa, turn on the seat warmers, crank up the holiday music + go for a drive to explore festive displays right in our neighborhoods.

You’re in the driver’s seat. Where are some of Cola’s best (level 10) holiday light displays? Think: neighborhood, public, or residential displays. Submit your favorite place to see holiday lights in Cola to our local map by Thursday, Dec. 5.

We added the first points on the map, featuring three light displays around the Midlands you shouldn’t miss.

Fireflies Holiday Lights | Friday, Nov. 15 to Saturday, Jan. 4 — exclusion dates apply | Segra Park, 1640 Freed St., Columbia | $10+ | Read about what you can expect at this year’s holiday light show. Spoiler alert — it will feature more lights + entertainment for the whole family.

Holiday Lights on the River | Wednesday, Nov. 27-Tuesday, Dec. 31 | 6-10 p.m. | Saluda Shoals Park | $25+ | Journey through more than three miles of lights featuring colorful, animated light displays of all shapes and sizes

Riverbanks Zoo & Garden - Lights Before Christmas | Select nights Friday, Nov. 15 through Sunday, Jan. 12 | 5-9 p.m. | Riverbanks Zoo and Garden | $20+ | Take your photo with Santa, roast marshmallows at the Jingle Bell Bonfire, and be sure to wear your hat. Pro tip: it snows nightly at Riverbanks during the Lights Before Christmas.

Ready to add your own? Submit here.

COLUMBIA — For most of Peter Brown's life, the Elgin neighborhood was a sleepy place.

But today, many of the woodlands and undeveloped plots of land have been cleared to make room new homes and businesses. And for Brown, 59, who represents this area in northeast Columbia for the City Council, this isn't necessarily a bad thing.

“We don’t want just random stuff all over the place," he said. "I feel like where we are right now is a good place.”

The are centered along Spears Creek Church Road has been a desirable spot to live for the last decade. In the past year growth has boomed with hundreds of homes and apartment units being approved in the area and surrounding parts of unincorporated Richland County.

The rapid development has also been driven by a housing shortage in Columbia, which Brown said is in a period of "hyper growth."

Mungo Homes is one of several developers putting up homes in the area, including a 186-home project approved by the city in September.

“I think just historically, it's a good area of town where people enjoy living,” said Austin Monts, director of land acquisition for the home building company. “I think that that particular area is desirable because it's a nice place for families to live.”

Elgin is also attractive because of its proximity to Interstate 77 and easy access to Fort Jackson and downtown Columbia, Monts added.

The most recent developments could be some of the first tendrils of growth spawned by the $2 billion Scout Motors manufacturing plant under construction in Blythewood 20 minutes away, according to Brown.

Officials have touted growth across Columbia since the landmark investment from the car manufacturer was announced, but Scout representatives and local officials have said it will be hard to tell when that growth will begin.

Brown believes the first rumblings of spinoff development have already begun with all of the new housing coming into the Elgin area over the past year.

Home prices have been rising in the neighborhood, even compared to the rest of the Columbia metro area. The average home price in Elgin ranged between $260,000 to nearly $300,000, according to Zillow. In the Columbia metro area, the average price was just under $233,000.

As the area has continued to grow, available plots of land have become harder to find, Monts said.

“There is less and less property available in that area because of the desirability, and so that would possibly cause some cooling off there,” he said.

The commercial sector has caught on as well. Dozens of new businesses have sprung up along Spears Creek Church in the past few years, with a new shopping center anchored by a Publix grocery store slated to open in 2025.

As the area has grown, Richland County has made plans to widen parts of the road and add right-of-way lanes through the county’s Transportation Penny Tax program. Work on the project was slated to begin in early 2026, Richland County Council members told The Post and Courier last spring.

So far, Brown hasn't received any complaints about the growth in Elgin. Local transportation authorities are “much more ahead of the curve than they’ve been in the past” with road improvements, he said.

“I try to tell people that we can’t stop growth," Brown said, "but what we can do is add purpose and strategy to growth."

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - As mystery drone hysteria sweeps across the nation, it is also causing a stir in the Midlands.

Residents of several states across the East Coast, including South Carolina, have reported thousands of sightings of mysterious aerial phenomena believed to be drones in recent days.

While federal officials have stated there is no national security or public safety threat, the mysterious sightings have caused speculation nonetheless.

Stacy Mink, who lives in the Red Bank community in Lexington County, reported seeing something hovering in her neighborhood on Tuesday night.

She said what she and her mother saw was startling, and described what was going through her mind in that moment.

“Oh my gosh, this is happening here too because I’ve been hearing the news, I’ve been hearing the updates of all these different areas where these drones are being reported,” Mink said in a Wednesday interview.

She said the brights shining down on her backyard did not look like any aircraft she had ever seen.

Mink believes the lack of a clear understanding from government officials about what’s in the skies is cause for concern.

“I do believe that this is a problem that should be getting addressed more diligently and effectively by our government, and not just our federal government, but local government should be addressing this,” she said.

A majority of WIS viewers said that the mysterious aerial phenomenon does concern them.

Out of 314 responses Wednesday, 210 answered affirmatively to the question: “Do the recent reported drone sightings concern you?”

That equates to 66.7 percent of respondents. 33.3 percent of respondents said they are not concerned.

“There are bigger and more important things to worry about in the world other than drones that are flying around that I have no control over, that I can’t dictate anything,” Tawana Saunders, who lives in the Midlands, said.

Taz Little, the co-founder AINautics, a local company that specializes in drones, said it should be easy to determine who is flying these mystery drones if they’re following all laws and regulations.

Most have what is called a remote identification (remote ID), or the equivalent of a digital license plate.

“The average drone pilot you find out there is using drones for good,” he said. “We know that despite these sightings and stuff, the majority of drones that you will see you don’t have anything to worry about. And they should be following all the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) rules and regulations as far as remote ID.”

Mink though, like many, is left with more questions than answers.

“It’s very scary to go outside and see something hovering above your home or above your neighborhood that you have no idea what it is,” she said.

The first sightings occurred mid-November in New Jersey, specifically near military research facility Picatinny Arsenal and near President-elect Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster, according to the Associated Press.

Various federal agencies including the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Defense released a joint statement saying they have been closely examining these sightings with “advanced detection technology” and “trained visual observers.”

They said they believe the drones to be “a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones.”

Little said he hopes these reports do not cause legitimate drone operations to be called into question.

Gov. Henry McMaster’s office said they have not received any information from authorities concerning recent drone activity.

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Columbia Metropolitan Airport is without a CEO after Mike Gula formally left the position Dec. 13, according to a Tuesday release from the airport.

The release does not say what led to Gula’s departure from the airport, which has seen healthy growth and new investments in recent years.

“His decision to resign was made amicably in coordination with the airport’s oversight commission and reflects his desire to pursue new opportunities and spend more time with his family,” the airport’s release states.

No further information about Gula’s departure was provided.

Gula joined the Columbia airport’s leadership in 2014 as director of operations. In 2018, he was promoted to CEO.

“It has been an absolute privilege to serve the citizens of the Midlands, and I will forever be grateful for the opportunity,” Gula said in a statement shared by the airport. “I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished together over the past 10 years, and I am confident that the Airport is well-positioned for continued success. I will always cherish the dedication of the CAE team and the support of the Commission during my tenure.”

Prior to working for the Columbia airport, Gula was director of operations for the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport.

The Columbia airport’s oversight commission will hold a nationwide search to find Gula’s replacement.

Gula’s departure comes as the airport has its sights set on big changes.

The airport recently announced a new partnership with Allegiant Airlines, as well as plans for an on-site hotel within walking distance of the terminal.

Other aspects of the airport’s long-term vision include adding new gates, allowing for more planes to board at the same time and allowing for more flight options. The airport has also just received a $3 million grant to build a cover over the roof of its parking deck with a mini solar panel grid on top. The project would expand the airport’s existing solar program.

The airport is projected to serve 1.4 million passengers before the year is out. By 2044, that number could surpass 2 million, according to Federal Aviation Administration projections.