New crosswalk envisioned for Walhalla side street

A new crosswalk for Walhalla’s S. Catherine Street may come at the cost of eliminating an existing one a short distance away.  The mayor and council members grappled last evening with how to make pedestrian-friendlier the two-way block of S. Catherine between Main and S. Broad streets.  The city’s elected leaders want to make safer crossing S. Catherine from the city parking lot side of the street to a Mexican restaurant that moved to a new S. Catherine location.  Russell Price, the public works director, presented drawings and the results of his contact with the South Carolina DOT.  According to Price, the DOT is agreeable to the crosswalk but not enamored of an idea that was recently floated to convert the one-block section of S. Catherine into a one-way street.  Side street parking on the buildings’ side of the street narrows the two lanes—pinching space for vehicle traffic.  Price says it’s recommended the city do away with an existing S. Catherine crosswalk because it is too close to the S. Broad intersection.