Final sprucing up of May River Road planned for 2016
The town of Bluffton will begin the third and final stage of the May River Streetscape in February 2016, according to a town official.
Kim Jones, director of engineering and public works, said the third phase would spruce up the section starting a half a mile from Pin Oak Street to Jennifer Court.
It would call for new lights, landscaping, pedestrian street crossings, sidewalks, on-street parking, buffers to screen businesses from the road, and possibly a four-way stop at Pin Oak and May River Road.
The $2 million project is still being discussed by Town Council, which broached the topic in a workshop Tuesday. The money would come from the town's capital improvement fund.
Council asked staff to eliminate parking spaces, if necessary to save large trees.
Town staff has proposed eliminating 24 parking spaces to save specimen oak and magnolia trees.
Jones said 39 trees, the majority of them pines, are proposed for removal. They would be replaced with 35 canopy trees of various oak species.
Five "understory trees," which are under the larger tree canopy, would be removed. But 55 understory trees, along with shrubbery and ground covering, would be added.
"It's a balancing act between preserving our natural environment and improving our built environment," Jones said. "The town is sensitive to the tree-preservation issue."
Mayor Lisa Sulka suggested asking business owners for their input on how to offer visual buffers between their businesses and the road. She said they would probably be upset if their businesses were hidden behind shrubbery.
The current plan calls for a four-way stop at Pin Oak, as well as pedestrian crossings, but the town must get approval from the S.C. Department of Transportation.
The previous phases were done between 2007 and 2014, at a cost of about $4 million, and included Bruin Road and May River Road to Pin Oak.
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Related content:
- Town of Bluffton Planning Commission sets priorities, March 26, 2015
- May River Road Streetscape meeting set for Thursday, Aug. 18, 2014
This story was originally published April 26, 2015 at 8:36 PM with the headline "Final sprucing up of May River Road planned for 2016."