Keep left turns for drivers? Beaufort Co. supports changes to US 278 plan on Hilton Head
Left turns from U.S. 278 onto Squire Pope Road might not be eliminated after all as part of the $290 million plan to demolish and replace the bridges from Bluffton to Hilton Head Island.
Beaufort County, the town of Hilton Head and the S.C. Department of Transportation have agreed that drivers should be able to make left turns from eastbound U.S. 278 onto Squire Pope Road; from eastbound U.S. 278 onto Wild Horse Road; and from westbound U.S. 278 onto Spanish Wells Road, according to a formal response from the county to Hilton Head officials, who hired a land planning firm, MKSK, in 2021 to suggest tweaks to SCDOT’s favored U.S. 278 construction plan, or “preferred alternative.”
MKSK in October recommended 26 changes or additions to the state plan, urging SCDOT to keep left turns at the U.S. 278 intersections, among other things.
Beaufort County formally responded last week to MKSK’s recommendations, agreeing with some of the firm’s suggestions — like its ideas on left turns — and opposing others.
The county, for example, said it opposes the town-endorsed idea of demolishing the existing bridges between Bluffton and Hilton Head to build two three-lane bridges — instead of one six-lane bridge — because it would add an estimated $27.3 million to the project’s total cost.
The state will hold a public meeting from 4-7 p.m. March 3 at the Island Recreation Center so Hilton Head residents can weigh in on modifications to SCDOT’s preferred alternative, which was released last summer.
The meeting materials will be available online from Feb. 24 to March 26 at bit.ly/US278Plan
Based on the county’s response to town officials, it appears that SCDOT’s revised plan will include left turns at the major U.S. 278 intersections.
“We have been working closely with the town of Hilton Head and will continue to do so throughout this process,” Beaufort County Administrator Eric Greenway said in a statement Wednesday. “We look forward to continuing this partnership and addressing as many of the concerns as economically and structurally feasible to upgrade the island’s access to the mainland.”
Shawn Colin, senior adviser to Hilton Head’s town manager, did not immediately respond to a phone message Wednesday.
Frustration over left turns
Some Hilton Head residents have fiercely opposed SCDOT’s preferred alternative.
State transportation officials originally wanted to eliminate a left turn at the Squire Pope Road-U.S. 278 intersection (eastbound drivers could instead make a U-turn at Old Wild Horse Road to eventually turn right onto Squire Pope Road); turn Old Wild Horse Road into a one-way street that connected drivers to Wild Horse Road; and eliminate left turns at the Spanish Wells-Wild Horse roads intersection (people in the westbound lanes could instead make a U-turn at Old Wild Horse Road to eventually turn right onto Spanish Wells Road in the eastbound U.S. 278 lanes, and eastbound drivers could use Old Wild Horse Road to get to Wild Horse Road).
The proposed changes infuriated residents, who argued that the SCDOT plan was confusing. Hilton Head Plantation, in particular, blasted the state’s ideas.
It now appears that SCDOT will endorse a plan to have two eastbound left-turn lanes on U.S. 278 for Squire Pope Road, drop its proposal for U-turns at Old Wild Horse Road and continue to allow left turns from eastbound U.S. 278 onto Wild Horse Road and from westbound U.S. 278 onto Spanish Wells Road, according to the county’s response to Hilton Head.
The intersections are located in the historic Stoney neighborhood, where generations of native islanders have raised their families.
Under the revised plan, the state would need to acquire 3.88 acres of land in Stoney (1.14 acres of privately owned land and 2.74 acres of publicly owned land), records show. SCDOT last summer initially said it would need to acquire roughly 4.8 acres of land in the community.
Bridge debate: one or two?
MKSK last year argued that SCDOT should build two new three-lane bridges instead of one new six-lane bridge.
Hilton Head Town Council members had expressed concerns about the size of the structure proposed by the state.
Beaufort County, though, opposes the two-bridge idea, records show.
The idea, the county said in its recent response to Hilton Head, would add an estimated $27.3 million to the total project cost, “significantly increase” the project’s construction timeline, potentially extend its completion date and jeopardize $120 million in funding from the S.C. Transportation Infrastructure Bank.
Greenway last year signed an intergovernmental agreement between the county and infrastructure bank for the project.
The agreement says any “material changes” to the project’s scope that are proposed by Beaufort County or SCDOT — such as a change that “materially increases” the total cost of the project — will require the review and approval of the infrastructure bank’s board of directors.
The state hopes to begin construction on the project in late 2023 or early 2024.
Who’s on the hook for $1.5 million?
MKSK had proposed that westbound U.S. 278 lanes on Jenkins Island be shifted slightly to the north for aesthetic purposes (increasing the width of the highway median on that part of the island).
That would cost an extra $1.5 million, according to the county.
The county, in its response, said SCDOT and infrastructure bank funding could not be used to cover cost overruns related to this MKSK proposal.
Beaufort County added that it “does not have extra funds” to cover the “meandering highway” idea, so the town would have to identify a way to pay for the suggested change, if it wants to implement it.
“We have not yet uncovered additional sources of funding,” said Colin, the senior adviser to Hilton Head’s town manager, during a Town Council meeting on Jan. 4. “There still may be some alternative funding at the state level, (though) not necessarily with SCDOT.”
How to weigh in
The formal comment period for SCDOT’s March 3 meeting runs between Feb. 24 and March 26.
Residents can attend the meeting, submit a response online at bit.ly/US278Plan, email info@scdot278corridor.com or send a letter to Craig Winn, 955 Park St., Room 401, Columbia, S.C., 29202.
Reporter Kacen Bayless contributed to this article.
This story was originally published February 17, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
