Business owners along Columbia’s busy Route B say a new traffic light and turn lane is needed between Schneider Electric and Swift Foods, noting the massive number of trucks that deliver to those businesses.
The issue was discussed at the recent Columbia Regional Economic Development Incorporated (REDI) board meeting. REDI president Paul Eisenstein tells 939 the Eagle there are safety concerns:
“We know our manufacturers first and foremost they’re concerned about the safety of their employees. And so we’re working with our manufacturing community especially on Route B to really understand what does the traffic look like and what are your concerns and how can we improve it,” Mr. Eisenstein says.
The REDI board learned that the state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) wants the Route B business owners to pay for the $35,000 traffic study, and REDI and the business owners are working on that.
Columbia’s heavily-traveled Route B is seeing more and more delivery trucks, especially in the busy food corridor near Swift Foods. REDI executive vice president Bernie Andrews tells 939 the Eagle that they’ve working with the manufacturers and the REDI board to see if REDI can help get the study completed and to see what the cost would be to make those physical improvements between Schneider and Swift Foods:
“The whole east side of Route B out there with all the employers that are adding jobs it’s just getting much, much more difficult and they’re worried about employee safety, truck safety going out and making those left turns. So this would certainly help if there was a traffic light and a new entrance onto Route B that was a little more controlled,” Mr. Andrews says.
Schneider Electric broke ground in May on a $73-million expansion at their plant on Route B. They plan to add 241 new jobs. Swift Foods opened its massive $200-million plant next to Schneider Electric in 2023: the Swift Foods plant is the largest private investment in Columbia history. The Swift plant aims to produce about 40-million pounds of meat products each year.
