Buckle up Hilton Head: Memorial Day weekend traffic causes major slowdown on Hwy. 278

If you’re headed to Hilton Head Island at all this weekend, plan on doubling your commute time.

It may not officially be summer in the Lowcountry yet, but it’s certainly tourism season on the island.

Tourists swarmed area beaches on Saturday.

And they had to get there somehow.

Backups slowed Hwy. 278 for the most of the day. A normal 30-minute drive around 2 p.m. turned into more than an hour drive for a reporter on Saturday.

Around 4:30 p.m., traffic cameras showed bumper-to-bumper traffic on Hwy.278 eastbound all the way past Malphrus Rd.

According to Google maps, the slowdown was causing at least a 27-minute delay for drivers trying to get onto the island.

This story was originally published May 27, 2017 at 4:49 PM with the headline "Buckle up Hilton Head: Memorial Day weekend traffic causes major slowdown on Hwy. 278."