Save the date: You can learn about the plan for Hilton Head’s bridges, US 278 in July
Hilton Head Island will soon get its first chance to learn the details of the plan for the island’s largest-ever infrastructure project.
The S.C. Department of Transportation will hold a public hearing on the U.S. 278 corridor project starting at 2 p.m. July 22 at the Island Recreation Center, located at 20 Wilborn Road.
From 2 to 6 p.m., the hearing will function like an open house, where attendees can take a look at the $240 million plan to re-align and widen U.S. 278 as it runs from Moss Creek to the Cross Island Parkway.
Starting at 6 p.m., people will be able to give official comments on the plans, but they must sign up in advance to speak.
The online sign-up for the comment session is not yet available, according to SCDOT.
At the public hearing, SCDOT will present its “preferred alternative” for the corridor. The public comment period on the project runs from July 7 through Aug. 22.
After the public comment period, the SCDOT will make adjustments to the alternative, and local government bodies will vote on whether to approve the plan.
Construction on the project is scheduled to begin around 2023.
If you cannot attend the public hearing, all materials for the session will be available starting July 7 on the public hearing website.
Since its beginning, the corridor project has come under immense scrutiny for its timeline, cost and focus. While some island residents don’t think an additional lane will reduce congestion, others who live in the historic Stoney community on either side of the bridge stand to lose generations-old heirs’ property if the highway adds another lane.
Currently, a land planning firm hired by The Town of Hilton Head Island is working on creating a plan for the Stoney community that relocates residents but attempts to honor their history.
On May 19, representatives for the firm MKSK met with Stoney residents to gauge interest in their ideas.
When asked to indicate their priorities on a poster board using small stickers, Stoney families asked that “people and families” be added to the priorities board alongside simplified intersections, public art and culture, and wider lanes.
Nearly every participant added their stickers to the ad-hoc priority added to the poster in pen.
