Better ideas or ‘kitchen sink’ plans? SCDOT has 3 new Hilton Head bridge alternatives
The S.C. Department of Transportation announced three new possibilities Thursday for remaking the U.S. 278 corridor, including the bridges to Hilton Head Island. The new alternatives change the alignment of the corridor and involve some clear cutting in the section of U.S. 278 considered the “gateway to the island.”
Plans 4A, 5A and 6A were made public in the DOT’s spring newsletter, and project manager Craig Winn said they were developed from existing plans after utility companies and the public weighed in.
But the new alternatives come as a complete surprise to most. In September, DOT announced six options for the corridor and said project managers would spend the next year narrowing them down to one alternative, to be announced in September2020.
Instead, the number of plans has grown to nine.
The corridor project will cost at least $250 million and tear up the entrance to Hilton Head for four to five years once it starts in 2023.
Islanders have criticized the project for failing to consider citizen input, and families native to Hilton Head have challenged it because it threatens their historic land.
The new alternatives do not appear to route the highway away from historic land, and at least one resident said the new options show the project moving in the wrong direction.
“It seems kind of like a ‘kitchen sink,’” said Luana Sellars, who is on the DOT’s committee of project stakeholders to represent native island communities near the bridge. “I thought we would be narrowing down versus adding more, which is obviously what happened.”
The most drastic changes in the new alternatives include leaving a section of Jenkins Island that has been clear cut for power lines intact and building the six-lane highway directly next to it. Originally, two of the plans included using that pre-made power line easement for the highway, similar to the setup of Bluffton Parkway in Bluffton.
“Santee Cooper was not interested in doing something similar to Bluffton Parkway,” Winn said. “The cost of relocating all those power lines basically made those alternatives not as viable.”
Winn said the power lines can’t be disturbed. Taking them offline would mean an island-wide power shortage during construction, he said.
Alternatives 5A and 6A instead convert the existing four lanes of U.S. 278 to a local frontage road, run the six-lane proposed highway directly north of the frontage road and leave the power line area undisturbed.
That means a near 10-lane highway footprint would be next to empty space reserved for power lines.
“We wouldn’t automatically clear cut” the dense tree cover between the two roadways, Winn said, “but there’s not much of a buffer. It’d be more like a frontage-road setup.”
Here are the nine alternatives:
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.
NEW: Alternative 4A
The new plan is the same as alternative 4 but instead builds new bridges over Pinckney Island directly south of the existing bridge footprint instead of further south.
The change comes at the request of wildlife refuge officials who want to disturb as little of the refuge as possible.
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.
NEW: Alternatives 5A and 6A
These new plans are also the same as alternatives 5 and 6, respectively, but the plans change the alignment of the highway once it lands on Jenkins Island. Instead of running 6 lanes underneath the existing power lines, these alternatives put the highway directly next to the clearing.
The change is due to push back from Santee Cooper, the power company that owns the lines, Winn said.
Both plans also change the alignment of a second bridge near the Stoney community on Hilton Head. The bridge would still cross marsh land, but would not be aligned with the power lines that cross Squire Pope Road.
Alternative 6
This 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 April 9, 2020 at 4:28 PM.
