‘No one feels safe walking or biking’ on Business Loop 70 in Columbia, Road Safety Audit says
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A survey conducted by the City of Columbia about road safety on Business Loop 70 showed pedestrians feel unsafe on the road.
In fact, no one in the survey wrote that they felt safe on the business loop as a pedestrian or cyclist.
The city in 2025 approved a $2.1 million study of Business Loop 70 from Stadium Boulevard to Eastland Circle. Business Loop 70 is maintained by Missouri Department of Transportation.
The online survey for the Road Safety Audit was released Oct. 8, 2025, and it received 156 responses between online and paper copies.
More than 60% of respondents claimed they felt “a little unsafe” or “very unsafe” while driving or riding in a vehicle on the road. Nearly half of people who responded felt “very unsafe” while biking and at least 20% felt “a little unsafe” during the same activity.
When asked about walking, no one again claimed to feel safe on the Business Loop. Nearly 60% felt “very unsafe” and another significant number of respondents felt “a little unsafe.”
A presentation for the Road Safety Audit says “No one feels safe walking or biking” and it leads to people feeling discouraged from visiting businesses.
Top concerns for respondents included distracted drivers, lack of pedestrian facilities (such as sidewalks, cross walks and lighting), cross the street as a pedestrian or cyclists, cars speeding and congestion during rush hours.
Hickman High School needs
The area around Hickman High School was a noted focus in the audit and presentation.
“We need to start thinking of the area around Hickman as a high pedestrian area with different needs,” the presentation says. “The primary walking routes to Hickman, and from Hickman to nearby restaurants, desperately need pedestrian improvements.”
Information from students were gathered during stakeholder meetings, the audit says. One student noted feeling unsafe because of speeding cars, while others claimed they did not feel safe “because cars do not always yield to pedestrians even when the walk sign is on.”
Hickman students regularly venture out to the Business Loop for lunch.
“A popular destination is Subway and there is no safe connection to get from the campus to Subway. The students requested a crosswalk to Subway at 7th Street,” the audit says.
The top-four issues for Hickman stakeholders included a lack of pedestrian facilities for students who won’t qualify for bus services, parents not understanding or following the school’s pick-up traffic circulation procedures, the lack of being able to make a left-turn onto southbound Providence Road from the driveways on the west side of the school and students feeling it is safer to cross the Business Loop mid-block than at the intersection.
The audit says these findings will be presented to the council during a 2027 work session.
