City Council Approves New Pedestrian Crossing

The busy four lanes of E St. John Street in downtown Spartanburg can be a pretty intimidating barrier for folks looking to move between the large activity centers.

But after Monday’s City Council meeting, that barrier will soon be easier to overcome.

Council voted 5-0 (Council member Jerome Rice was absent from the meeting) to approve a contract with ALS of North Carolina for $161,961 to install a traffic light and pedestrian signaling for the intersection of Liberty Street and E St. John Street.

The new crossing, situated between the Johnson School of Business and Economic and the Chapman Cultural Center on the northern side of St. John and Hub City Co-Op and Papa’s Breakfast Nook on the southern side, will allow pedestrians to cross more easily between the popular downtown activity centers and allow easier access to the downtown core. Currently, pedestrians on either side must walk to either N Converse Street or N Church Street to cross the busy thoroughfare. The project is expected to take between three and four months to complete.

For more from Monday’s City Council meeting, see the full video and roundup of the live tweets below.