Hilton Head will suggest changes to SCDOT’s $290M plan for US 278. How to learn more
Hilton Head Island residents will soon get a glimpse of how town officials want to tweak and modify the S.C. Department of Transportation’s $290 million plan to reshape the U.S. 278 corridor.
MKSK, a town-hired land planning firm, will explain its proposed modifications to the SCDOT plan during three public forums on Aug. 16 and Aug. 17, said Shawn Colin, senior adviser to Hilton Head’s town manager.
The town previously hired MKSK, which is based in Greenville, for $98,660 to examine and critique the SCDOT’s highway ideas.
The firm, Colin said, could counter the state’s favored construction plan, or “preferred alternative,” with its own proposals, including different design concepts for major Hilton Head intersections (SCDOT wants to eliminate left turns at the Squire Pope Road-U.S. 278 intersection and Spanish Wells-Wild Horse roads intersection.)
MKSK is ultimately tasked with designing a new entrance to Hilton Head at its single entry and exit point. The entrance is supposed to be welcoming to drivers and less intrusive to the families and businesses that own property in the Stoney community, a historic neighborhood where generations of native islanders have raised their families.
The firm is reviewing the U.S. 278 project to address various concerns regarding “land disruption, safety, quality of life,” Colin said, but he does not expect MKSK to suggest a completely different route for U.S. 278 from what the SCDOT has already proposed. (The state wants to demolish the existing Hilton Head bridges and replace them with a single, six-lane bridge.)
Two of the town’s public forums will be held on Aug. 16 at the Island Recreation Center from 9 to 11 a.m. and 5 to 7 p.m., said Town Manager Marc Orlando.
The other forum will be held at Town Hall on Aug. 17 from 9 to 11 a.m., Orlando said.
The forums will occur just before MKSK and town staff bring their suggestions to the island’s Town Council for consideration during an Aug. 17 meeting.
Colin said he hopes to get the council’s “soft position” on the state’s preferred alternative, and MKSK’s ideas, on Aug. 17, before then submitting the town’s official public comment on the project to SCDOT before Aug. 22.
The project’s 45-day public comment period ends Aug. 22. SCDOT must respond to written comments made between July 7 and Aug. 22, Colin said.
If Colin attaches MKSK’s design concepts to the town’s comment, he said SCDOT would have to respond to the firm’s ideas.
Colin expects state officials to spend two to three months responding to the public’s written comments.
The transportation agency could then release an updated version of its preferred alternative this fall, he said.
What happens next?
Beaufort County will have to obtain a signature of municipal consent from the town before construction can begin on the project, according to SCDOT and Colin.
The Town Council, in other words, has the ability to veto the SCDOT’s plan, Colin said.
If some Town Council members think, “We’re not satisfied that you integrated enough or any” of the MKSK recommendations, Colin said, that could be grounds for the council’s rejection of the SCDOT proposal.
What about the public hearing?
The SCDOT’s in-person public hearing for the project is still happening. It’s separate from the town’s public forums.
Residents are invited to attend the hearing on Thursday to discuss the preferred alternative. The public hearing will be held from 2 to 7 p.m. 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.
This story was originally published July 21, 2021 at 1:55 PM.
