The transportation needs of the elderly, more bicycle lanes for North Augusta and unpaved roads were on the minds of residents who attended a community meeting sponsored by the Augusta Regional Transportation Study on Monday.
The meeting, held at the H. Odell Weeks Activities Center, gave local residents an opportunity to voice their concerns on traffic, growth, public transit and bicycle and walking paths. The input will be used as ARTS develops the Transportation Vision 2040 Long Range Transportation plan for western Aiken County and a part of Edgefield County north of North Augusta in South Carolina and all of Richmond County and part of Columbia County in Georgia.
Lynda Bassham of the Lower Savanah Council of Governments said her agency has received an increase in calls in the past year from people who have retired to Woodside or Cedar Creek who need transportation.
"It's not just poor people," Bassham said. "It's people who have aged and their circumstances have changed. Maybe they have lost a spouse or their support system that took them where they needed to go. They may have a broken ankle or hip.
"They're absolutely lost for the first time in their lives. There may be a car in the driveway, but they're not able to get to a doctor's appointment or the grocery store, places that they really need to go."
Bassham said the local public transit system that began in 1990, the Best Friend Express, "hasn't grown because we don't invest in it enough locally. With the retired population we have here, which is growing and growing, what's good for that group is ultimately good for all of us."
Responding to a question about "planning for more bike lanes in North Augusta and Augusta," Carletta Singleton, planning manager of the Augusta Planning and Development Department, said, "We are planning for all modes of transportation. The bicycle and pedestrian plan was done in 2012. We will be assessing how many of those bicycle routes have been completed or are in the planning process."
Singleton added that her department has funds from the federal government and the S.C. Department of Transportation's transportation alternative program that help pay for projects for bicycle lanes, sidewalks and pedestrian trails.
"There will be planning involved in this process that will include that," Singleton said.
Unpaved roads create a problem for disabled residents who use public transit, another person at the meeting said. Public transportation vehicles cannot lower the lifts for disabled persons to board on unpaved roads without curbs.
Another community meeting will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. today at the Smith-Hazel Recreation Center at 400 Kershaw St. N.E.
A report outlining the residents' input at the 11 community meetings planned during March will be on be online at www.augusta.gov/arts after April 22. Meetings to present the recommended plan will be held in July.
An Aiken native, Larry Wood is a general assignment reporter. He started at the Aiken Standard in September 2014.