Walking to school - a step closer to safety (news article)

Clemson walkers a step closer to safety
Pedestrian bridge will ease concerns on Berkeley Drive

By John C. Stevenson • Pickens County News • Published: December 14. 2010 2:00AM

Plans for a pedestrian bridge over busy U.S. 123 at Berkeley Drive in Clemson is one step closer to fruition.

The City Council has decided to hire Florence & Hutcheson Consulting Engineers for about $69,000 to design a pedestrian bridge that would resolve a decades-old safety concern.

The narrow, two-lane Berkeley Drive overpass is a concern because Clemson Elementary School is on Berkeley Drive, and the road connects the school to local neighborhoods.

“If I was one of the parents, I would not let my children walk across it,” Clemson Elementary principal Ken Weichel said. “This will open up several neighborhoods, and be the safe way for kids to get to school.”

Clemson administrator Rick Cotton said safety has been an issue at the overpass since the elementary school opened 20 years ago. The city has considered various options, including tearing down the existing bridge and constructing a new one at a cost of about $2 million, and connecting sidewalk to the bridge, restriping the bridge and adding a fence to separate pedestrians from vehicles, at a cost of about $80,000.

Cotton said the existing Berkeley Drive bridge is in otherwise good condition, and does not need to be replaced, while the plan to restripe and add sidewalk and a fence “does not improve safety.”

“You've got a school there that's going to be there for another 40 or 50 years, let's build a 40- or 50-year solution,” Cotton said. “Council's decided we need to find a way to get this done.”

Florence & Hutcheson will be tasked not only with designing a pedestrian bridge, but also with “bidding and construction management” for the project, which Cotton said could cost as much as $700,000.

He said by May, the city “will have a project that's designed and built and ready to bid.”

At the same time, Cotton said, the city will work to find the money needed to build the pedestrian bridge. A Transportation Enhancement Program grant through the state Department of Transportation is a possible source, he said.

Eunice Lehmacher, a Clemson Elementary parent who has long lobbied for improvements to the overpass, said the pedestrian bridge will have benefits for the community in addition to pedestrian safety.

“My philosophy is walking is better than driving — for kids, for the environment, for all kinds of reasons,” she said. “I have friends who run across that bridge or walk across that bridge and cars don't slow down for them. They say it's kind of scary for them — for adults.”