It’s official: DOT wants to keep left turns at major US 278 intersections on Hilton Head
The S.C. Department of Transportation has backtracked and is now recommending that left turns at major Hilton Head Island intersections should be retained as part of its $290 million plan to tear down and replace the existing U.S. 278 bridges between Bluffton and Jenkins Island.
State transportation officials published a slew of documents online this week that reveal new updates to SCDOT’s favored construction plan for the project, which is known as the “preferred alternative.”
The preferred alternative was initially released last summer, drawing fierce criticism from some Hilton Head residents, including people concerned about the proposed elimination of left turns at various U.S. 278 intersections and anticipated impacts in the historic Stoney community.
The state’s newly modified plan, for the most part, mirrors what SCDOT released in summer 2021. The agency still wants to replace the existing U.S. 278 bridges with one new six-lane bridge. And the state still wants to widen the highway corridor from four to six lanes in Stoney.
But some parts of SCDOT’s proposal have changed, including its ideas on intersections.
“Balancing the community’s needs and preferences with potential impacts to the natural environment has been a top priority for this project,” wrote Craig Winn, the SCDOT project manager, in a Thursday statement.
Many have said the U.S. 278 project will be one of Hilton Head’s most consequential undertakings this century. SCDOT plans to reshape the island’s only entry and exit point.
“We now have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve our current traffic situation in a way that is beneficial to all,” wrote residents Diederik Advocaat, Steven Baer and Gray Smith, frequent critics of SCDOT’s handling of the project, in a May 2021 letter to federal highway officials.
The return of left turns
SCDOT 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 would connect 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 state now wants to have two eastbound left-turn lanes on U.S. 278 for Squire Pope Road, keep the Old Wild Horse Road intersection the same as it is today 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.
SCDOT also wants to have two right-turn lanes from Squire Pope Road onto westbound U.S. 278 (with no acceleration lane on the highway) and two left-turn lanes from Spanish Wells Road onto westbound U.S. 278.
The agency predicts that during the afternoon rush hour on Hilton Head in 2045, under the state’s modified plan, it will take westbound U.S. 278 drivers (headed toward Bluffton) about 64 seconds to travel from the Spanish Wells-Wild Horse roads intersection to the Squire Pope Road-U.S. 278 intersection. (In comparison, under the original preferred alternative, it would have taken those westbound drivers roughly 68 seconds to travel between the two intersections, according to SCDOT.)
The state also expects that during the morning rush hour in 2045, under the modified plan, it will take eastbound U.S. 278 drivers (headed onto the island) about 71 seconds to travel from the Squire Pope Road-U.S. 278 intersection to the Spanish Wells-Wild Horse roads intersection. (In comparison, under the original preferred alternative, it would have taken those eastbound drivers roughly 63 seconds to travel between the two intersections, according to the agency.)
What else has changed?
▪ SCDOT now says it only needs to acquire 3.47 acres of land in Stoney (this includes 1.10 acres of privately owned land). The state last summer initially said it needed to acquire a total of 4.8 acres of land in the community, where generations of native islanders have raised their families.
▪ The new plan impacts 22.5 acres of wetlands. The original preferred alternative impacted 22.9 acres of wetlands.
▪ The state now says it wants to start construction in 2024. SCDOT originally said it wanted to begin construction in late 2023 or early 2024.
▪ SCDOT supports a town-hired land planning consultant’s idea of shifting the westbound U.S. 278 lanes on Jenkins Island to the north for aesthetic purposes (this would increase the width of the highway median on that part of the island). The state, though, says a local government needs to find a way to pay for this proposal, if it wants to implement it. Beaufort County recently told Hilton Head officials that it “does not have extra funds” to cover the town’s “meandering highway” idea, which would cost $1.5 million, according to the county.
▪ There will be a 12-feet-wide bicycle and pedestrian pathway on the southern edge of the proposed six-lane bridge (instead of a 10-feet-wide pathway). The town’s land planning consultant last fall argued that the path should be 14-feet-wide.
What hasn’t changed in the plan?
▪ The state wants to demolish the existing U.S. 278 bridges and build a new six-lane bridge. SCDOT also wants to have six lanes in Stoney.
▪ SCDOT has not endorsed the town’s idea of building two three-lane bridges instead of one six-lane bridge between Bluffton and Jenkins Island. Beaufort County recently confirmed that it opposes this town proposal because it would add an estimated $27.3 million to the total project cost, among other things, according to the county.
▪ Construction is still expected to last three years.
▪ The modified plan includes a traffic light outside the entrance to Windmill Harbour.
▪ Two businesses must be relocated because of the project: Island Psychic and Willie Young’s Upholstery & Fabrics.
▪ The corridor’s speed limit will be 45 mph.
▪ SCDOT wants to eliminate the U.S. 278 left turns on Pinckney Island and create a new underpass there to connect drivers with the wildlife refuge and C.C. Haigh Jr. boat landing.
What’s next?
The state will hold a public meeting from 4-7 p.m. March 3 at the Island Recreation Center, 20 Wilborn Road, so people can weigh in on the modified highway plan.
The formal comment period for the meeting runs from Thursday to 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 c/o South Carolina Department of Transportation Lowcountry Regional Production Group, 955 Park St., Room 401, Columbia, SC 29202-0191.
This story was originally published February 24, 2022 at 10:09 AM.
