Why was Hilton Head sign encouraging masks turned off on island’s busiest traffic day?
An electronic sign on U.S. 278 leading onto Hilton Head Island reminds island visitors and residents to wear a mask. Except on Saturday, when the sign was dark, and drew ire and skepticism from some on social media.
One video, showing the sign turned off, was shared around 150 times and viewed 10,000 times. The sign, placed on the eastbound lanes of U.S. 278 on Hilton Head, has reminded drivers in weeks past that the island has cases of COVID-19 and that everyone is encouraged to wear a mask.
But when it was turned off on Saturday — “changeover day” for many of the island’s rentals and hotels — commenters wondered whether the sign was turned off because acknowledging the coronavirus pandemic would deter tourists.
Despite the pandemic, traffic is nearly as heavy as a year ago. On Saturday, more than 32,000 cars came over the eastbound Hilton Head bridges, according to S.C. Department of Transportation traffic counters. On the same weekend last June, just over 35,000 eastbound cars came over the bridge.
Advocates for turning on the sign say those 32,000 travelers should have been clearly reminded to wear masks.
But officials say the sign’s deactivation was not to soothe tourists.
“Absolutely not,” Town of Hilton Head Island Mayor John McCann said Sunday when asked.
“It is a very important sign for us,” McCann said. “Especially right now.”
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office said the sign was turned off because of a miscommunication: The Town of Hilton Head previously placed its own sign within 100 yards of the sheriff’s sign, negating the need for a second one. Sheriff’s officials said the sign was turned back on within a few hours of realizing that the town’s sign had been moved to another location.
Residents who have kept a close eye on the town’s message to tourists were skeptical.
They have sharply criticized the Town of Hilton Head Island for being slow to enact a mask requirement and limit activity on the island. Prior to Thursday, the town had not considered a mask requirement and had several times cited lack of enforcement from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office as its reason.
Late last week McCann and others reconsidered. The council voted Monday morning to require all customers and employees in commercial spaces to wear face masks. The rule goes into effect at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday and covers restaurants, bars, retail stores, grocery stores, pharmacies and other businesses.
What happened with the sign on Saturday?
Officials say the sign’s deactivation a miscommunication.
“There is no merit that this was the Town of Hilton Head turning off their sign on turnover day,” Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Bob Bromage said Sunday. “It was a duplicate message,” Bromage said.
On Saturday, the town moved its sign to another spot on the island, Bromage said.
“Once we were aware that their sign was moved, we went out there and turned our sign back on,” Bromage said.
He said it was back on within a few hours of residents noticing on the busy traffic day.
Also on Saturday, McCann and representatives from the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce gave out free face masks for a half-hour at the Kroger grocery store in Shelter Cove. The chamber said it had distributed 500 masks in that time.
Activists make sign reminders
Bluffton residents Darion Allen and Lane Cogdill didn’t wait for the Sheriff’s Office to turn the sign back on. They made their own sign and taped it to the electronic sign.
“Wear a mask,” it said. “You’re supposed to CARE about people.”
The absence of a sign is part of a larger issue rankling locals: tourists flooding the island without masks and social distancing, Cogdill said.
“We are driving 10 minutes to go to the grocery store and seeing license plates from 15 different states,” Cogdill said.
It also includes government “valuing the economy more than people who live and work here.”
The concern is partly for students, said Cogdill, a teacher.
“I am not speaking for the school system, but as an educator, this also relates to concerns about school reopening this fall,” Cogdill said. “We are opening our community up to more risks.”
