Beaufort’s Bay Street back in business after 3-month closure. ‘Woo-hoo!’
Beaufort’s Bay Street is back in business after a $12 million storm drainage upgrade blocked vehicle traffic and hindered foot traffic into the city’s downtown business district for three long months.
Gulf Stream Construction Inc. finished paving the intersection of Bay and Charles streets Friday and reopened it to traffic Monday.
“We’re open for business!” Nan Sutton, the owner of Lulu Burgess, said in Facebook post announcing the reopening, as she stood, nearly dancing, in the middle of the intersection. “Woo-hoo!”
The reopening of the intersection means vehicles can now easily reach downtown Beaufort from both directions of Bay Street — from both the Woods Memorial Bridge end, which had remained open, and the marina end, which had been closed.
Downtown Beaufort remained open, but the closure of the western entrance reduced both vehicle and pedestrian traffic through the holiday season, a critical time for downtown businesses.
“Our businesses need this,” Ashlee Houck, president and CEO of the Beaufort Area Hospitality Association, said of the reopening of the key intersection. “Downtown has been hit hard with the waterfront promenade closure, so this is what we need at this point in time. Some businesses didn’t last through January.”
Besides the disruption caused by the stormwater drainage project, downtown businesses also are wrestling with the city’s closure of the promenade because of deterioration of the infrastructure underneath the Waterfront Park.
Houck says businesses are hoping the reopening of Bay and Charles streets will stabilize foot traffic.
The Bay-Charles intersection is just a part of a year-long, $11.9 million stormwater drainage project called the Charles/Craven Street Stormwater Improvements. The project will replace 1900-era pipes and install tidal check valves along the waterfront to reduce chronic flooding from hurricanes and other storms. With opening of the intersection, work is now proceeding north up Charles Street.
The project is at the epicenter of city and expected to benefit up to 50 structures by reducing the flood risk, according to the state of South Carolina. Federal COVID-19 relief funds are paying for it.
A $9.5 million storm drainage improvement called the King Street Drainage Project is occurring at the same time.
This story was originally published February 18, 2026 at 11:02 AM.
