Update: Standstill traffic on 2 highways in Bluffton during Monday’s commute. Here’s why

This story was updated at 9:30 a.m.

Traffic was at a standstill for about an hour and a half Monday morning along S.C. 46 from the Levy area stretching to the traffic circle at S.C. 170 in Bluffton after an accident.

Capt. Lee Levesque, spokesman for the Bluffton Township Fire District, said the accident happened around 7 a.m. on the New River Bridge and involved three vehicles.

Levesque said there were seven people in the three vehicles, and two of those with “moderate” injuries were transported to a local hospital by ambulance.

Both directions of S.C. 46 were blocked, according to Google Maps. At one point, users of the Waze traffic app reported that police officers were having drivers turn around.

Levesque said around 8:30 a.m. that he expected the highway to be reopened within the next half hour.

A separate accident was reported along U.S. 278 near the Hilton Head Island bridges around 7:17 a.m.

The South Carolina Highway Patrol’s real-time traffic information system classified the incident near the bridges as a collision without injuries.

Traffic also was heavy on U.S. 278 near the I-95 Exit 8 to Hilton Head on Monday morning. It was unclear whether that traffic was related to drivers detouring around the U.S. 46 accident or whether there was another accident in that area.

By 9:30 a.m., traffic was moving normally along S.C. 46 and U.S. 278 in Bluffton, according to Google Maps.

This story was originally published October 1, 2018 at 7:57 AM.