No left turns? A new boat ramp? How Pinckney Island could change during US 278 project
Say goodbye to those harrowing left turns onto Pinckney Island.
The S.C. Department of Transportation wants to overhaul the island’s entrance as part of its $290 million plan to demolish the existing Hilton Head Island bridges and replace them with a single, six-lane bridge.
The state has proposed a slew of changes on Pinckney Island, where 200,000 visitors explore the area’s salt marsh and tidal creeks every year.
Left turns off U.S. 278 would be eliminated under the SCDOT plan. More parking could be in store. And the C.C. Haigh Jr. boat ramp might be demolished and rebuilt further north, project documents show.
“We’ve very happy with the proposed option,” said refuge manager Russ Webb. “It seems like the best one for us.”
What’s in the SCDOT plan?
State officials want to reshape how visitors access the refuge. The Pinckney Island plan mirrors the road system on Hutchinson Island, which is just across the Georgia border near the Talmadge Bridge. (U.S. 17 crosses Hutchinson Island into Savannah.)
Left turns onto Pinckney Island would be eliminated. The highway would also be elevated. Currently, U.S. 278 is a causeway on the island.
The new elevation would allow SCDOT to build an underpass beneath the bridge. Eastbound drivers could use that underpass to eventually head north toward Pinckney Island’s trails and parking lot. Westbound drivers could use it to access the C.C. Haigh Jr. boat ramp and fishing pier.
A 10-foot-wide bicycle and running trail along the southern edge of the proposed six-lane bridge to Hilton Head would also cut east across Pinckney Island.
Webb, the refuge manager, said he likes the trail concept and thinks the elimination of left turns will make the area safer for guests.
What about the boat landing?
Beaufort County has an agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to use 6 acres on Pinckney Island for the C.C. Haigh Jr. boat landing, which is south of the existing U.S. 278 footprint.
Under SCDOT’s favored highway plan, or “preferred alternative,” U.S. 278 would shift south of its current route and run over the existing two-lane boat ramp.
The boat ramp, and an accompanying courtesy dock, would be demolished, project documents show. They may be rebuilt just to the north, where U.S. 278 currently crosses onto Pinckney Island.
That could allow boaters and others to park under the new bridge, said Jared Fralix, assistant county administrator.
“There will probably be more parking,” Fralix said. The county, at present, has roughly 90 spots for vehicles and trailers.
Details about the boat landing, though, remain up in the air.
Fralix said he expects SCDOT to demolish the current boat ramp and rebuild it to the north. The nearby fishing pier, he said, will probably be unaffected.
SCDOT project manager Craig Winn, though, in a Friday phone call said no plans for the boat landing have been finalized. SCDOT will continue to discuss the matter with Beaufort County, Winn said.
The parking lot north of U.S. 278 for hikers and bicyclists will not change under the state’s plan.
What about wetland impacts?
SCDOT wants to acquire another 8.02 acres for the highway’s right-of-way in the Pinckney Island area, which is a 4,053-acre refuge about 0.5 miles west of Hilton Head. The refuge was established in 1975.
The state would ultimately use about 32 acres, in total, for U.S. 278 on Pinckney Island. (That’s roughly 0.7% of refuge acreage.)
The proposed construction plan, a modified version of the state’s “alternative 4A,” would impact 22.9 acres of wetlands through the entire U.S. 278 corridor.
Five rejected “alternatives” (including the original version of alternative 4A) would have affected fewer wetland acres.
Four other alternatives, though, would have impacted more.
Jessie White, south coast office director for the Coastal Conservation League, previously said the organization was glad that state officials dropped the four plans that included additional wetland impacts.
Russ, the refuge manager, meanwhile, said he appreciated how SCDOT declined to pursue alternative 4. That plan would have pushed the proposed six-lane bridge south of the C.C. Haigh Jr. boat landing, subsequently impacting more of the refuge.
What’s next?
The details of SCDOT’s proposal for Pinckney Island will likely be among the least contentious aspects of the state’s $290 million construction plan.
Gullah land loss, intersection changes, lane widening and the project’s entire concept and timeline, as a whole, will be fiercely debated in the coming weeks.
The preferred alternative is currently in its 45-day public comment period, which ends Aug. 22.
Residents are now able to review the SCDOT documents online, submit written suggestions or recommendations to agency officials, attend an in-person public hearing on Thursday to discuss the preferred alternative, and set up appointments at the Island Recreation Center between Aug. 18 and Aug. 21 to learn more about the state’s proposal.
The public hearing will be held from 2 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the rec center at 20 Wilborn Road. People can drop by to ask questions from 2 to 6 p.m. An hour-long meeting for residents to speak out about the plan will run from 6 to 7 p.m.
Shawn Colin, senior adviser to Hilton Head’s town manager, expects state officials to ultimately spend two to three months responding to written comments from the public.
SCDOT could then release an updated version of its preferred alternative with tweaks or modifications this fall, he has said.
This story was originally published July 18, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
