Catching up with Bluffton's May River Road streetscape project

The start of the final phase of a project to spruce up one of Old Town Bluffton's main thoroughfares has been delayed yet again.

The town's May River Road streetscape improvements, which were originally planned to begin early this year, likely won't begin until the summer.

The third and final phase of the project includes new lights, landscaping, pedestrian street crossings, sidewalks, curbs and gutters along the road from Pin Oak Street to Jennifer Court.

But a series of design changes based on input from residents, business owners and the SC Department of Transportation -- which owns the half-mile stretch of May River Road -- have hampered the start of construction, town officials say.

Mayor Lisa Sulka addressed the roughly $2-million project at a town workshop earlier this week.

The streetscape upgrades have "kind of been (on the town's capital improvement to-do list) the longest," she said. "... We are ready and anxious and it's funded."

Construction was originally slated for "January, then March, and now it's June," Sulka said.

But even a June start date may be too ambitious.

Town manager Marc Orlando said he "take(s) full responsibility for this project being off track" and cannot "guarantee that this project will start in June."

He identified July as a "drop dead" date for bringing a construction contract to the town council for approval, which would be the final step before groundbreaking.

May River Road is "not (a town-owned) street, it's a (state-owned) street, so there are steps and protocols" involved getting the permits, easements and rights-of-way necessary to make streetscape upgrades , Orlando said.

After a meeting last week with SCDOT officials, "we identified that there are a couple of extra steps still needed" before design and engineering plans are finalized, he said.

Town officials plan to meet with residents and business owners along the roadway next month to update them on the project, which is currently set to wrap up in August 2017.

Follow reporter Lucas High on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Lucas.

Related content:

• Final sprucing up of May River Road planned for 2016, April 26, 2015

This story was originally published January 20, 2016 at 4:05 PM with the headline "Catching up with Bluffton's May River Road streetscape project."