Beaufort officials ask for patience during ‘painful’ Boundary Street project

As frustration grows with traveling a Boundary Street that’s under construction, Beaufort leaders are asking for patience.

The city’s senior project manager, David Coleman, heard concerns from about a dozen residents last week during what will become a monthly informational session at City Hall. He has heard from many more electronically.

“This is a painful project — it’s painful at best,” Coleman said Tuesday. “And I want the people to know that we as a management team are doing everything we can to keep this project headed in the right direction.

“I take a lot of criticism about this project, which is fine, but at the end of the day everything I hear I try to run to ground and make sure I do everything I can to mitigate these concerns.”

He said some of the questions are based on misconceptions, such as traffic circles originally envisioned for the Robert Smalls Parkway and Ribaut Road intersections that weren’t part of the final design.

Likewise Mayor Billy Keyserling has received a barrage of complaints. He said the response was similar to other past road projects and street redevelopment, including the new stretch of J.E. McTeer Bridge.

The Boundary Street project began in earnest in January, and Coleman said spring of 2018 is the targeted completion date. The $33 million redevelopment includes realigning the intersection at Robert Smalls Parkway and Boundary Street, burying utility lines and building raised, landscaped medians.

An order for cellular devices to operate traffic signals while a communication line is dug up and another order to clear asbestos from a home before demolition cost about $30,000 total, Coleman said.

Coleman was on Boundary Street overnight Monday while water was turned off to install new valves, a move he hopes will minimize future outages.

A ceremonial groundbreaking for the project will be held Friday morning in the Beaufort Plaza parking lot.

The work has drawn a strong, swift reaction from area residents.

Some have called the project unnecessary, noted seemingly increased travel times or even, as in a letter to The Beaufort Gazette last week, called for the project to end. Others have worried about response times for emergency responders.

“Total waste, one of the single most unexplainable projects ever,” Beaufort resident Tim Newman wrote in response to a Gazette story about one of the public information sessions. “...There were so many real improvements that could have been undertaken.”

Drivers have been frustrated since medians were removed and left turns prohibited almost the full length of the 1.2-mile project. Lanes backup, and business traffic has slowed with restricted access.

Restricting left turns is necessary to keep cars from piling up worse than they do now, Coleman said. And the hope is that businesses recover some of their lost revenue with a more welcoming roadway when the project is done, he said.

“As long as we can maintain control of a closed median, traffic flows fine,” Coleman said. “You can get down that road just as quick as you’ve ever been able to by traveling at 35 (mph) and not having any left turns.”

Mark Fulton, who with his wife owns Frank Bond’s Spirits and Wines on Boundary Street, said sales are down but that the overall effect has been lessened by an increase in sales at their Port Royal store off Ribaut Road. Evening business has remained fairly steady, he added.

But traffic has been backed up without the median and is worse during peak times, like Friday afternoons, Fulton said.

“And the way you see it now is the way it’s going to be when it’s finished,” he said.

Mike Millwood, a retiree and part-time employee in the Boundary Street store, said he has taken to avoiding the construction area when possible. The liquor store sits near the end of the project near Greenlawn Drive and still enjoys a left-turn access point and roundabout access from the nearby traffic light at Kmart.

Coleman dropped in on the owners in response to their concerns about work crews in front of the store while the median was being removed. He was back Tuesday, albeit to remove roadkill from the sidewalk near a sign in front of the Fultons’ store that read “Open during construction.”

This story was originally published April 5, 2016 at 6:52 PM with the headline "Beaufort officials ask for patience during ‘painful’ Boundary Street project."