7.2.3.1 The Two Notch Road Corridor

This section illustrates how the principles and strategies recommended for Richland County’s suburban areas could be applied to an actual suburban area. Figures 7-7 and 7-8 illustrate the context for this demonstration project: the Two Notch Road Corridor that extends from the I-20 beltway northeast to the county line.

Figure 7-9 illustrates possible locations for a series of suburban village centers along Two-Notch Road. These village center locations have been selected for illustration of the concept because they meet most of the criteria established for locating suburban village centers. 
 

• They are along multi-lane regional roads at points of potential high accessibility. 
• These points could include a series of intersections or the potential for a series of intersections that offer dispersed connectivity to existing or proposed development on both sides of the multi-lane regional road. 
• Most are near existing commercial or mixed-use development. 
• Two Notch Road offers the possibility of future light rail transit by virtue of the existing rail line which parallels the corridor. 
• These centers are on high ground at the edge of watersheds in areas where possibilities exist for establishing connections to existing residential development. 

The Two-Notch Road example illustrates the evolution of a strip mall shopping district into a suburban village, with the existing main highway shown as the centerpiece of a pedestrian-oriented cluster of activity. The main transportation objective of reorganizing the Two-Notch corridor into a series of suburban villages is to reduce the overwhelming reliance of the area on the automobile for both short-range and long-range travel.

As described previously, one of the major traffic problems associated with suburban strips is that short and very short local trips are usually forced to mix with regional traffic along the main highway. The provision of cross-access and local road access, as best addressed through the creation of a parallel street network, can begin to address this problem by allowing local travelers to access their destinations without having to utilize the main highway. 

The creation of a more attractive pedestrian network also addresses this problem by encouraging shoppers to walk between stores rather than drive between them. Such an approach entails not only the physical improvement of pedestrian facilities, but also the arrangement of buildings at a pedestrian scale.

Transit and bicycles represent alternative forms of transportation available for long-range travel along the corridor. The designation of bicycle lanes along the main highway, or the construction of bicycle paths along parallel greenways, can vastly improve the safety and convenience of bicycle use in the corridor.

Transit use can be made more convenient through improvements to services—such as enhanced amenities and greater bus frequencies—as well as through the reorganization of development into pedestrian-oriented clusters, which provide logical locations for transit stops. If several clusters of activity along the corridor each develop to a certain critical mass—and if the historic city center develops into a vibrant, dominant center of employment, commerce, and entertainment—then light rail or commuter rail service along the parallel rail corridor might indeed someday become feasible.

In order to spur the type of village reorganization described above, the cross-section of Two-Notch Road would need to be modified to better fit into the desired context. While the highway serves too critical a transportation function to suggest its downsizing into a two-lane street, it can nonetheless be redesigned to better fit into its surroundings while maintaining its present capacity. Important design elements of an appropriate “boulevard” cross-section include: wide sidewalks (15 to 20 feet); short sections of parallel parking where large activity generators front the street; and landscaping in medians and on the sides of the road. The four travel lanes would be retained, as would an additional turn lane at intersections.