Port Royal road projects could change how you drive through town. Here’s what’s proposed
A series of traffic projects could help shape Port Royal into a town where people can comfortably walk and bike freely and where cars no longer blow past on the way to the other side of Beaufort County.
That’s the vision from the results of a recent traffic study commission by the town that was presented to Town Council last week. The findings include recommendations for slowing traffic on four-lane Ribaut Road and adding pedestrian paths along the busy thoroughfare, for new signaled intersections and improvements for current busy intersections.
The work would cost millions but could be implemented in phases, prioritized by money available and potential for corresponding commercial development.
“This is extremely exciting,” town planning director Linda Bridges said during a presentation from consultant Toole Design on Nov. 12. “First, to see so many of our other ideas validated and to anticipate that it might happen.”
What’s proposed
A major aim of the recommendations is to slow traffic on Ribaut Road as people enter and leave Port Royal and to better connect the town on each side of the four-lane commercial thoroughfare.
Traffic engineers recommended narrowing lanes to 11 feet from their current width of 12 to 14 feet and installing planted medians, with a multi-use path and sidewalk on either side of the road. A planted median on Ribaut in front of intersections of Lenora and Drayton drives would remove the possibility of a tricky left turn.
New traffic lights could be added at the intersection of Edinburgh and Ribaut and at the point the Spanish Moss Trail is expected to cross Ribaut Road, where a new road is planned along the Port of Port Royal redevelopment property. The lights would give bicyclists and pedestrians a safe way to cross and help slow traffic that comes off the Russell Bell Bridge into Port Royal.
“Right now, that thing is a thoroughfare to move cars as quickly as they can from Lady’s island to Bluffton and Hilton Head,” town manager Van Willis said during the presentation last week.
Narrower lanes, dedicated bike lanes with a buffer, and planted medians were also proposed for Lady’s Island Drive. Intersection improvements were also proposed at Ribaut and Paris and Ribaut and Lady’s Island Drive.
Restriping parking spaces on Paris Avenue, the town’s main street, installing a new parking area at the skate park in Naval Heritage Park, and closing off Old Shell Road at Ribaut Road are also among the study’s recommendations.
What’s next
The study prioritized what work that could begin immediately, short-term and long-term projects.
Within the next two years, the town could paint new parking on Paris Avenue and complete improvements at east and west entryways to Port Royal at an estimated cost of $1.9 million. A little further out, with an estimated price of $11 million, the study suggests the new traffic lights at Edinburgh and Ribaut, as well as intersection improvements, extension of the Spanish Moss Trail south across Ribaut Road, and a new waterfront access road and a connector from Battery Creek Road to Ribaut.
Longer-term work could cost another $10 million and include a trail along Ribaut Road, eventually connecting pedestrians and bicyclists to Lady’s Island, and new parking and road changes at Naval Heritage Park.
Town officials could seek partnerships with the county and state to complete some of the work, and the timeline could change as money comes available, said Ernie Boughman, director of operations for the Southeast at Toole Design.
