Lady's Island roundabout construction could begin next spring
Construction on a northern Lady's Island roundabout could begin next spring, a little later than planned, a S.C. Department of Transportation official said Monday.
Joy Riley, a DOT project manager, said work on the roundabout planned for the intersection of Sams Point Road, Brickyard Point Road and Holly Hall Road could begin in March. Construction was expected to begin this year but was delayed while utilities are relocated, Riley said.
Work could take nine to 12 months, Riley said.
"It just all depends on who it's awarded to, what else they're working on and all the scheduling and everything," she said.
The job will be advertised in this month and open for bids the second week of January.
The project will be paid for by federal funds through DOT's Guideshare program and will cost more than the initial $2.45 million estimate, Riley said. How much more won't be known until after bidding, she said.
Depending on the timing, the money could be administered by the Lowcountry Council of Governments or a recently created metropolitan planning organization that will now handle transportation planning for much of Beaufort County.
After the 2010 census identified Bluffton and Hilton Head Island as a "small urban area," federal rules required creating the new panel, known as the Lowcountry Area Transportation Study Metropolitan Planning Organization.
LATS' planning area includes much of Beaufort and Jasper counties. The group will vote to finalize longterm plans in January, Riley said.
Until then, the project falls to the Lowcountry COG.
The roundabout has long been in the works.
Engineers believe a roundabout is more appropriate at the intersection than a traditional traffic signal, Beaufort County traffic engineer Colin Kinton said last year, and will allow cars to flow more freely through the intersection at slower speeds. Federal research has shown roundabouts to be safer than traditional intersections.
Some would rather see traffic lights.
Lady's Island resident Emil Meyers wrote to The Beaufort Gazette last month to say the roundabout was a waste of money compared to cheaper traffic signals and that the only problem area is for those turning left from Holly Hill Road to Sams Point. Meyers supported a traffic light at the intersection.
Jim Hicks, a member of the Lady's Island Business and Professional Association and longtime member of the Beaufort County planning commission, said last year that the roundabout will help alleviate increased traffic from new development.
"All of us who work in the planning business, to one degree or another, know the roundabout is a great idea for the long-term," Hicks told The Beaufort Gazette in 2014.
Explore: The Sams Point, Brickyard Point and Holly Hall roads crossing
Click and drag the image to look around this intersection (as photographed by Google in July 2013).
Follow reporter Stephen Fastenau at twitter.com/IPBG_Stephen.
Related content
- Letter: Expensive roundabout wrong for Lady's Island, Nov. 8, 2015
- Construction of Sams Point Road roundabout to begin next year, Sept. 8, 2014
This story was originally published November 30, 2015 at 11:08 AM with the headline "Lady's Island roundabout construction could begin next spring ."