Columbia Police, Five Points officials consider safety measures
A young woman from Fort Mill, S.C, is still in the hospital after she and another pedestrian were hit by a car two blocks from campus early Friday morning. The 23-year-old is in stable condition after having surgery on her leg. The other victim, a 21-year-old male from Blythewood, S.C., was released from the hospital Friday with a few bumps and bruises on his lower body. Both pedestrians were lawfully crossing the street at the intersection of Greene and Harden streets when a red Chevy Camaro hit them without stopping.
The driver of the vehicle, 21-year-old Justin McGlamry, a former Midlands Technical College student from Lexington, S.C., whose birthday was Thursday, was arrested several hours later. McGlamry was charged with two accounts of hit and run with personal injury, running a red light and fleeing the scene, with bond set at $50,000. Due to the time between the incident and the arrest, police had no grounds for a DUI charge, according to Columbia public information officer Jennifer Timmons.
The incident is not the only vehicle-pedestrian collision on Harden Street this year. Last month, 24-year-old Justin Timmerman of Chapin, S.C., was killed by a suspected drunk driver while crossing the very same intersection. In April, another pedestrian was injured in a hit and run on Harden. However, even after the spring’s accidents, Columbia Police, the Five Points Association and city officials are at a standstill on what, if anything, should be done to limit traffic in the popular bar district.
“We’re still gathering data and research and discussing options, which take time. We’re not going to make any rash decisions,” Five Points Association Executive Director Merritt McHaffie said. “For 50 years people have been drinking in Five Points and lots of cars have been driving there. These accidents don’t necessarily indicate an increased safety issue, they just happened to occur around the same time.”
Columbia Police Chief Randy Scott told The Free Times in May that he was considering setting up barriers at the intersections of Harden and Greene and Harden and Blossom to close off several yards of the street late at night. Such barriers are already used in the entertainment districts of Charleston and other South Carolina cities to block late-night traffic.
Timmons credited the idea of setting up barriers to the Five Points Association, saying they came to the police department with the proposal three weeks ago. McHaffie denies that statement and insists the idea originated in the police department.
“The Board of Directors is not in favor of any street closings of Harden Street as suggested by the Columbia Police Department,” reads a letter from McHaffie to Assistant City Manager Melissa Gentry.
The letter, which was sent following extended discussion by the board, goes on to offer alternative suggestions to improving safety, such as changing the sequencing of traffic lights to slow traffic, coloring and texturing pedestrian sidewalks and walkways and installing rumble strips and flashing lights, such as those used in school zones. The board also proposed eliminating the cut-through between Exxon Mobile gas station and the Five Points plaza, turning the zone into a cab stop late at night.
City traffic designer David Brewer said any traffic changes would have to be coordinated with the state Department of Transportation and approved by city council and the state. Even before any agreements can be made, the city still has to determine whether traffic in Five Points is even a problem.
“We put in a request through the department of transportation [for a report on traffic accidents] in May,” Brewer said. “We have to wait for investigation of those accidents to see what caused them — they might not even be traffic-related.”