Hilton Head wants to reduce land loss during U.S. 278 project. Will it be able to?
Hilton Head Island got its first look at a new land plan for the U.S. 278 corridor on Tuesday as residents braced for next week’s expected release of the S.C. Department of Transportation’s preferred highway alternative.
The plan from MKSK, a Greenville-based land planning firm that the town hired this past spring, has not been finalized. But early details show that Hilton Head is trying to reduce land loss in the historic Stoney community.
MKSK is tasked with designing a new entrance to Hilton Head at its single entry and exit point that’s welcoming to drivers and less intrusive to the families and businesses that own property in the Stoney neighborhood.
The firm based its plan on the expectation that SCDOT will recommend a six-lane highway that cuts through Stoney and Jenkins Island.
MKSK’s plan proposes a narrower right-of-way for U.S. 278 in the Stoney area, with 11-foot lanes instead of 12-foot lanes, which would result in less land loss.
The plan includes 32 feet of land acquisition instead of 44 feet on the north side of U.S. 278 near homes like the Stewart family’s.
Town Council members and residents praised the firm’s initial ideas at a Tuesday meeting, but Alex Brown, who represents Ward 1 on the elected body, warned that “time is of the essence.”
The SCDOT is set to release its preferred U.S. 278 plan next Wednesday. And a public hearing on the $300 million project will be held July 22.
“We may have no chance of stopping the SCDOT’s public hearing on the 22nd, because that’s right around the corner, OK? But we do have the responsibility of improving our quality of life,” Brown said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’re nowhere near the finish line at all.”
Brian Kinzelman, a senior principal at MKSK, on Tuesday said the firm will continue to work on its land plan so Hilton Head can provide an official response to the SCDOT’s preferred alternative later this summer.
What’s in the plan so far?
MKSK is suggesting that the U.S. 278 right-of-way in Stoney be 110 feet instead of SCDOT’s proposed 122 feet. The current right-of-way is 78 feet.
The plan includes 32 feet of land acquisition instead of 44 feet on the north side of the highway, according to a presentation from Kinzelman.
It would have “more civilized access into those driveways,” he said.
The plan also recommends a wider median on Jenkins Island, where trees can be grown, and two multi-use trails near the highway there. MKSK suggested that the westbound lanes on Jenkins Island be realigned slightly to the north into town-owned land, creating a slight curve to the highway and a wider streetscape.
Residents and town leaders, Kinzelman said, should think of the U.S. 278 corridor as a parkway, not a “raceway.”
He also said SCDOT’s newly proposed bridge should include a wider walking and bicycle trail, with benches for people to sit above Skull Creek.
What’s next?
July will be a busy month for the U.S. 278 project, which has been under scrutiny for its timeline, cost, focus and impact on native islanders in the Stoney community.
MKSK will continue to move forward with its plan, but the clock is ticking. SCDOT will present its preferred alternative on July 7.
Kinzelman said the firm will examine and potentially suggest alterations to SCDOT’s proposal for the U.S. 278-Squire Pope Road intersection (the elimination of a left turn there), the possible reconfiguration of the Old Wild Horse Road intersection, and the state’s proposal to get rid of the left turn at the Spanish Wells-Wild Horse roads intersection.
The firm will also review the project’s possible “downstream” effects on other nearby streets, like Gumtree Road.
“We don’t want to just kick the can of congestion (problems) from one place to another,” he said.
