New SC 170 traffic signals to activate soon, affecting routes between Bluffton, Beaufort
Editor’s note: In advance of Tropical Storm Debby, the signals will be activated sometime Monday, Aug. 5, according to a press release from Beaufort County.
A set of new traffic signals at a quickly developing S.C. 170 intersection is expected to activate next week, rectifying a tricky turn for neighbors of the highway while likely slowing commutes between Bluffton and Beaufort.
The stoplights at the four-way intersection of Okatie Highway, Oldfield Way and East Argent Parkway are planned to be operational the morning of Aug. 6, according to a Wednesday press release from Beaufort County. Those signals were placed on “flash operation” beginning Tuesday — blinking yellow for highway traffic and red for both east-west outlets — as contractors from APAC-Atlantic, Inc. and W.M. Roebuck completed their installation.
East Argent Parkway is the site of a still-in-progress “Planned Development District,” which was originally greenlit by the City of Hardeeville in 2005. When completed, the community will boast about 9,500 living units and is expected to add more than 12,000 residents to the city’s population.
Although developers at have proposed a northbound state route branching off from the parkway to accommodate the area’s future population increases, currently the neighborhood’s sole major outlet is through S.C. 170, which already faces regular traffic overflows.
East of the intersection is Oldfield, an 860-acre luxury golf community developed in the early 2000s.
Jack Fisher, founder and former CEO of Preserve Communities, the real estate conglomerate responsible for the Argent development, was convicted of tax fraud involving more than $1 billion in September of last year. He no longer leads the company.
This story was originally published August 1, 2024 at 11:49 AM.
