Petition: Scrap Hilton Head bridge plans, get ‘more creative’ with traffic solutions
Hilton Head Island residents are one year away from seeing the final plan for the U.S. 278 corridor project, a $240 million multi-year construction undertaking. But some want the project’s coordinator, the S.C. Department of Transportation, to stop in its tracks.
A petition sprang up late last week urging the Town of Hilton Head Island Town Council to reject the six alternatives for the corridor and force SCDOT to rethink them, according to the petition on Change.org.
Construction is set to begin on the corridor in 2023.
As of Monday afternoon, the petition — started by former Beaufort County Council member Steven Baer — had 333 signatures.
“SCDOT’s plans will have a tremendously detrimental impact on the North end of the Island,” Baer said in his petition. “We would like to see more creative and less intrusive plans that are proven to actually work. We also request that SCDOT quantify the cost ... of the various plans in order to let citizens understand the benefit/cost of each.”
Although relatively few people have signed the petition online, its message has been circulating in island communities since the six alternatives were first presented in September.
While some were surprised by the similarities in the plans, others, such as Arthur Champen, saw the entire process as “all a show,” asserting that SCDOT engineers had a preferred route for the bridges and rejected other plans that would have significantly changed the bridge footprint.
Champen, who lives north of U.S. 278 on Squire Pope Road, has a stunning view of over 30 acres of marsh (and several power lines) behind his home.
He said in September that he hopes for alternatives that stick with the current path of the highway and widen its lanes. There’s no way SCDOT would pay to build a second bridge, he said.
The two plans that don’t include widening the highway are “all for show,” he said. “They’re trying to appease the people, but it’s really too expensive.”
SCDOT has not estimated costs of each alternative, project manager Craig Winn said in September. That’s another point of contention in the petition, which warns that building two new bridges could exceed the $240 million quoted for the project.
“Considering that the cost of the six proposed SCDOT plans is at least $250 million, and has been estimated by some to reach $500 million, and that the bridge issue is under control, there is time, opportunity and funding capacity to think more creatively,” the petition says.
Winn was not available on the Veterans Day holiday to comment on the petition.
What are the Hilton Head bridge plans?
Analysis: similarities and differences
Many of the alternatives have common elements. Here’s a guide to how they’re similar:
- Widen the entire corridor to six lanes: all alternatives
- Add right-turn only off U.S. 278 and underpass on Pinckney Island: all alternatives
- Include multi-use pathway over bridge: all alternatives
- Build new span of bridge next to existing one: alternatives 1, 2, 3 and 5
- Build entirely new bridge south of existing ones and C.C. Haigh Jr. boat landing: alternatives 4 and 6
- Build entirely new bridge north of U.S. 278 on Jenkins Island and through Squire Pope Road: alternatives 5 and 6
Alternative 1: Closest to the original configuration of the bridges to Hilton Head. The plan would build a new bridge over Mackays Creek south of the existing eastbound lanes and demolish the old lanes. The access point to Pinckney Island would incorporate an underpass to allow only right turns from U.S. 278.
Alternative 2: The second alternative would also maintain the configuration of the corridor. A new bridge would be built north of the existing lanes over Mackays Creek, and the eastbound bridge to Pinckney Island would be demolished. The existing westbound lanes would be switched to eastbound from Bluffton, and westbound traffic would use the new bridge.
Alternative 3: In this plan, there would be two new eastbound bridges: One over Mackays Creek and one over Skull Creek. The existing eastbound Mackays Creek bridge would be demolished, and the existing bridges over Skull Creek would be converted to westbound lanes.
Alternative 4: In the fourth alternative, crews would build an entirely new bridge significantly south of the existing roadway. A new, six-lane bridge would start at the base of the Bluffton flyover and head east, crossing Pinckney Island south of the C.C. Haigh Jr. boat landing, and crossing Skull Creek south of the old bridges. All four existing bridges between Bluffton and Hilton Head Island would be demolished.
Alternative 5: This plan would add two new bridges next to the old ones: One over Mackays Creek and one over Skull Creek. The existing eastbound Mackays Creek bridge would be demolished.
It also includes a completely different approach from Skull Creek to Spanish Wells in which a six-lane bridge from Jenkins Island to the Cross Island Parkway would cross marshland and historic communities north of the highway.
That bridge would cross the marsh north, running to Squire Pope Road, before meeting existing U.S. 278 at Spanish Wells Road.
Alternative 6: The final alternative is a combination of two others by building two new bridges. A new, six-lane bridge would start at the base of the Bluffton flyover and head east, crossing Pinckney Island south of the C.C. Haigh Jr. boat landing, and crossing Skull Creek south of the old bridges.
A second new bridge from Jenkins Island to the Cross Island Parkway would cross marshland and historic communities north of the highway on Hilton Head.
This story was originally published November 11, 2019 at 4:26 PM.
