Church St. bridge renovations, a new city district map and other council updates

GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - SCDOT is getting ready to begin a project that could last more than a year, upgrading the Church Street bridge in downtown Greenville.

Officials presented an update in Monday night’s city council meeting. Drivers should expect traffic changes, parking changes and a lengthy construction timeline. However, city leaders hope after these much-needed repairs, the bridge will be a staple for Greenville’s skyline. The Church street bridge has aged, to the point officials say it needs major upgrades.

“Not just functional repairs, but also including a lot of aesthetics” said Tony Steffe, the project manager.

The bridge project will rehabilitate the structure and storm drainage. While also adding new barriers, street lights, a wider sidewalk, a new set of stairs, plants and a paint job.

“We’re going to help fix that, we’re going to make it feel better and be safer for pedestrians as they walk across the bridge,” said Steffe.

The council got a peek at what it’ll look like during the meeting.

“I’m excited about this because I’ve always felt like the Church street bridge should be part of the imagery, particularly the nighttime imagery of downtown Greenville,” said Councilman John DeWorken.

The project is estimated to last between 12 to 18 months. During that time, the bridge will stay open most of the time, but it’ll be reduced to two lanes.

“You can expect some delays on US-29 especially on the north end of the bridge” said Steffe.

It’ll also impact parking in lots under the bridge. SCDOT expects complaints from residents in nearby apartments like McBee Station and businesses underneath. That’s why the council urged project leaders to notify residents about construction hours and times before work begins.

“They need notification because that’s where their home is,” said Councilwoman Lillian Brock-Flemming.

They estimate construction will begin sometime this summer, crews will mostly work at night. There are detour routes set as well. For more information and project updates click here.

Redistricting map approved

Also, Monday night, council set its new city voting district lines. Over the last few months leaders had been working on the redistricting process. The goal of the process was to get all four districts as close to about 17,000 people. Councilwoman Flemming had concerns early on in the process about maintaining two districts as majority-minority districts. With the new map council was able to make sure that two districts have more than 40% of the population made up of people of color.

“The council was dedicated to making sure that we could even have majority-minority districts as best as we could,” said Flemming, “So that we can have more diversity in our community. And we are also looking to build in the places where we see a lot of empty spots” she said.

Flemming says they also tried to preserve most of the voting precincts. To get a better look at the map, learn about the process and see if your area has been impacted, click here.

Other Updates:

• Council approved revising a zoning law which will now allow food trailers within the city limits. Food trailers will not be allowed to operate under the same rules as a food truck.
• Council gave initial approval for $310,606 to go towards design and construction improvements at 660 South Main Street along River Street. This project would be completed in conjunction with the renovation of the Army Navy Store building.

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