Mending Columbia's Urban Fabric

"'Assembly is the gateway to Columbia,' the mayor said. 'In light of the fact there is no referendum, we need to go ahead and start planning' how to raise funds.

Assembly Street is downtown's main thoroughfare. But with up to eight lanes of traffic at some major intersections, it is the equivalent of a freeway running through the center of the city.

The street also divides districts both physically and psychologically - the Vista from Main Street, and USC's old campus from its new Innovista research campus.

The goal is to eliminate the railroad tracks that clog the street, bury the utility lines that clutter it and make it less daunting for pedestrians to cross."

Thanks to A. L. Calloway