Traffic alert: Two crashes at base of Hilton Head bridge snarl westbound rush hour

Two crashes at the base of the Hilton Head Island bridge have closed one westbound lane and backed up traffic Friday afternoon, according to a news release from the Town of Hilton Head Island and the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.

Traffic cameras show westbound gridlock as far back as Mathews Drive on the island’s north end.

The first crash happened at U.S. 278 and Jenkins Road near the bridge, sheriff’s office spokesperson Bob Bromage told The Island Packet. A car collided with a pickup truck, but there are no injuries, he said.

The vehicles involved in that crash have been moved to the shoulder of U.S. 278, but emergency crews working on the crash are blocking the right westbound lane, according to the sheriff’s office.

The second crash happened at the base of the bridge over Skull Creek, where a semi truck and a dump truck collided, Bromage said.

There were no injuries in that crash, but the dump truck sustained “significant damage to the front end and will probably need to be towed away,” he said.

Towing the dump truck will likely affect traffic even longer, Bromage added.

Google Maps is showing a 46-minute delay due to the crash.

This story was originally published February 28, 2020 at 4:20 PM.

Katherine Kokal

The Island Packet

843-560-9158

Katherine Kokal graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and joined The Island Packet newsroom in 2018. Before moving to the Lowcountry, she worked as an interviewer and translator at a nonprofit in Barcelona and at two NPR member stations. At The Island Packet, Katherine covers Hilton Head Island’s government, environment, development, beaches and the all-important Loggerhead Sea Turtle. She has earned South Carolina Press Association Awards for in-depth reporting, government beat reporting, business beat reporting, growth and development reporting, food writing and for her use of social media.