New signal will stop traffic for walkers, bicyclists crossing busy Port Royal roadway
A newly installed traffic signal will give pedestrians and bicyclists a safe path across Port Royal’s busy Ribaut Road. The lights on U.S. 21 east of the McTeer Bridge were activated Thursday, according to Beaufort County Engineering. The HAWK signal — short for high-intensity activated crosswalk — allows users of the Spanish Moss Trail to press a button that briefly stops vehicle traffic on the four-lane highway. It’s part of a long-awaited effort to open up the 10-mile trail to downtown Port Royal. The $1.3 million expansion project was hung up in a dispute for years, Dean Moss, executive director of the Friends of the Spanish Moss Trail nonprofit, previously said.
“It’s probably the most rewarding thing I’ve done,” Moss said of his nearly 15 years leading the construction and growth of the trail.
Like the Spanish Moss Trail’s crossing at S.C. 170 (Robert Smalls Parkway), the Ribaut Road signals will flash yellow to signal that drivers should prepare to stop. The lights will turn red for about 30 seconds as pedestrians and bicyclists cross. During the subsequent flashing red signal, traffic must come to a stop but can proceed if the crosswalk is clear.
The Spanish Moss Trail expansion
The trail’s expansion to Port Royal was opened within months of its other new connection to the Beaufort waterfront. The updates only add about a half-mile of pathways in total, but they link the trail to already walkable and tourist-friendly areas in both municipalities.
Built along the former Magnolia Line Railroad between Yemassee and Port Royal, the Spanish Moss Trail follows a corridor first established in 1870. The railway ceased operations in 2003, but its path now winds through creeks, rivers, salt marshes and forests across Beaufort County’s landscape.
Other sections of the trail run behind quiet residential neighborhoods, creating connections through areas like Mossy Oaks and Hunter Pines that did not previously exist. Along the way, users can also reach destinations such as the Technical College of the Lowcountry, fishing areas and the Publix shopping center.
Leaders plan to extend the trail even more in the future, with planned expansions south to Port Royal’s Sands Beach and farther north along U.S. 21 (Trask Parkway).
