What’s happening on the highway between Hardeeville and Savannah? Here’s an update
Drivers who frequent U.S. 17 near Savannah’s Talmadge Bridge may have noticed heavy machinery and traffic cones lining the narrow strip of roadway in recent days.
It will become a familiar sight.
On Saturday, road workers are scheduled to begin clearing and grubbing operations on the heavily trafficked highway in Jasper County, part of a $41.9 million widening project slated to continue for the next four years, South Carolina Department of Transportation officials said.
The clearing operations on the section of highway, known as Speedway Boulevard, will result in lane closures and flagging operations for the next three months, but the roadway will remain open to traffic going both ways, according to a news release.
Commuters and other travelers may see “slight delays,” officials said. Lane closures are possible during the following times:
- Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.
- Saturday and Sunday, midnight to noon
The highway has seen increased traffic in recent years. In 2019, the most recent year SCDOT data were available, an average of nearly 18,000 vehicles passed through the area each day.
The road work on the highway, connecting the South Carolina-Georgia state line to Hardeeville, Bluffton and other Lowcountry destinations, represents one of the first steps in an ambitious improvement project scheduled for completion in 2025.
The 4.2-mile section will be expanded from two to four lanes and a traffic light will be installed at the intersection of S.C. Highway 315 and U.S. 17, where there is currently only a stop sign, The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette previously reported.
Ground improvements and specialized work on roadway embankments will add time to the construction, which has long been in the works, SCDOT officials said previously.
The strip of highway has been the site of many fatal crashes, some involving pedestrians, the newspapers reported in 2015.
A second phase of the project, led by the Georgia Department of Transportation, will lead to the construction of a second bridge over the Back River, near the Savannah River and Talmadge Bridge.
