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Can Bluffton be prettied-up?

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The Town of Bluffton is moving forward with plans to re-energize old town, but several questions are up in the air about some of the issues related to the "Streetscape" project.

They include:

• Should overhead cables along May River and Bruin roads be buried?

• Should the town use materials in new sidewalk and street pavement that will help protect the May River?

• Should the town use alternative road materials, like pavers, bricks and shells instead of traditional asphalt and road paint?

Bluffton planning and engineering staff are reviewing those and other concerns about the May River and Bruin roads Streetscape project raised during a June public hearing on the plans.

Officials said Wednesday they will make their findings public later this summer.

During the June hearing, officials unveiled plans for the $3.2 million effort to make Bluffton's old town historic section safer and more attractive.

Critics were particularly upset about what the town had not included in its plans to make the area more aesthetically pleasing -- including burying overhead cable lines that run along the roads and using special materials for crosswalks and on-street parking instead of road paint.

Members of the public and some town officials -- including Hank McCracken and Wallace Milling of the Historic Preservation Commission -- have called for the project to be held to a high standard, even if it becomes more expensive and takes longer to complete.

"We should be patient and do it the right way the first time so we don't regret having a halfway decent Streetscape instead of a wonderful Streetscape," Milling said in an interview.

The current plans for the Streetscape, which will stretch from Burnt Church Road to Stock Farm, call for about 200 new, on-street parking spaces, sidewalks varying in size from 4 to 12 feet and new landscaping along sections of the roads.

Milling and McCracken said they understand the town is under pressure from some residents -- particularly from developers who have invested in old town -- to get the project started. It has been discussed since early 2006.

Through their staff review, however, town officials are trying to address these and other concerns before work officially begins on the project in September, said Bob Fletcher, engineering director.

UTILITIES

Bluffton had been in discussions more than a year ago with South Carolina Electric & Gas about burying overhead cables along May River and Bruin roads, Fletcher said. The discussions had been abandoned because of the high costs associated with burying all the lines.

But the talks were re-opened after the most recent public hearing. Fletcher said that while it still is too costly -- and in some cases operationally impossible -- to bury all the lines, the town might be able to simplify the project by burying the ones that cross the street. The remaining lines would be concealed with new landscaping, once it's full-grown, officials said during the June public hearing.

The estimate provided more than a year ago for burying the cross lines along a portion of the project was $65,000. The current estimate probably would be higher because town officials extended the length of May River Road included in the Streetscape since the last estimate. Fletcher said the town is still in negotiations with South Carolina Electric & Gas.

Another utilities initiative still in negotiations is providing sewer service to about a dozen homes on the north side of Bruin Road. Fletcher said town and Beaufort Jasper Water & Sewer Authority officials have discussed bringing a sewer line to this area because the road already would be torn up for Streetscape construction.

ROAD MATERIALS

McCracken said he wants the Streetscape to help transform Bluffton "into a destination rather than just a thoroughfare."

The town hopes to slow down drivers in old town with crosswalks and on-street parallel parking.

McCracken said these plans could be made better by using alternative road materials, like pavers, bricks and shells instead of traditional asphalt and road paint. Those changes would make drivers feel as though they're "coming into something rather than just through," he said.

But while those materials are more costly, there might be a bigger concern for the town: control of S.C. 46. The town cannot make such changes to a state road that could be used as a hurricane evacuation route, town manager Bill Workman said.

Wendy Powers, assistant town manager for planning, said there is no possibility of the town taking control of S.C. 46 from the South Carolina Department of Transportation at this time.

"We can accomplish what we need to without that," she said.

STORMWATER

Perennial concern about the water quality of the May River led some residents to ask why the town isn't using pervious pavement for the street and sidewalks to be installed along May River and Bruin roads.

Powers said the issue of pervious sidewalks isn't yet resolved.

If the Town Council approves a new stormwater ordinance, most new development would be required to have pervious sidewalks. There is a hearing on the issue today.

In any case, Powers said, the town is proposing to install devices to collect and filter stormwater from roads and sidewalks.

Up to six filters costing $60,000 each will be installed as part of the project, Workman said.

MERCHANTS

Several merchants along May River and Bruin roads said during the June hearing they were concerned road closings would interfere with business.

The first phase of the project -- from Burnt Church Road to the S.C. 46 intersection -- is expected to begin in September and be finished by July 2009. The second phase -- from the intersection to Whispering Pines -- is scheduled to begin in January 2009 and be completed a year later. Benches, trash cans and streetlights will be added in the second phase.

Fletcher said those phases might be re-worked so that construction around the densest business areas takes place in the tourist off-season.

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