Beaufort County proposed U.S. 278 traffic and bridge study. Why Hilton Head wants its own
Hilton Head Town Council members voiced support last week for an independent “end-to-end” analysis of the U.S. 278 Corridor Project, potentially breaking from a proposed review of the project in concert with Beaufort County.
The proposed analysis would study traffic flows from the county onto the island and conduct a traffic simulation of the roads leading to Hilton Head Island in advance of a $290 million construction project to build a new bridge, or bridges, connecting Hilton Head to the mainland.
Bridge construction is expected to take three years to complete and is expected to begin in 2023 or 2024.
Councilmen Glenn Stanford, Tamara Becker, Alex Brown and David Ames all said they wanted the town to conduct an independent traffic study at its July 19 meeting. Town Manager Marc Orlando added he was also not opposed to an independent review, but no vote was taken on the issue.
“For too long, it’s been the county moving in one direction and us moving in another,” Brown said during the July 19 meeting. “I think we’re getting closer to having some meaningful discussions between the two of us.”
The council was presented with two different options by Assistant Town Manager Shawn Colin to review the U.S. 278 project and examine traffic.
One option was to work with the county and use the consultant company Kimley Horn to conduct the review. The other option was for the town to launch its own independent review and hire its own firm.
During a presentation about the plan, Colin said Kimley Horn was the best firm to quickly conduct the review. Colin added that the consultant firm MKSK, which has previously worked with the town to propose changes to the U.S. 278 project, recommended Kimley Horn.
“We need to have a level of comfort through this complete impact mitigation assessment for the whole corridor,” Colin said. “We really need to understand that down to the finest detail that we can because we’re going to get one chance to get it right.”
Colin added that the firm’s previous relationship with SCDOT might be seen as a conflict of interest, but “data is data.”
But Council member Stanford said he did not believe Kimley Horn was the right firm for the job.
“I believe that we should move forward with an independent examination by a consultant that we choose, and we coordinate with the county moving forward,” Stanford said.
Fundamental dispute
Both Beaufort County and Hilton Head support examining how traffic flows from the mainland onto the island and how to best manage it. The pair also agree that studying the effect a new bridge would have on traffic is important.
But the two sides are in disagreement about the bridge plan itself and who will conduct the review. Some Hilton Head residents have also mistrusted the U.S. 278 project since the beginning, further complicating matters.
The county and SCDOT favor a six-lane bridge to connect the mainland to the island, but Hilton Head officials prefer a two-bridge solution.
In 2020, the town and county paid consultant firm HDR to review the SCDOT’s proposal for the project, a six-lane bridge connecting the island to the mainland.
HDR also had previous relationships with both the county and SCDOT, according to previous Island Packet reporting, and the firm’s final report also concluded a six-lane bridge was the best option. Island residents at the time claimed the results were not truly independent.
Despite the disagreement on bridge type, the county agreed to an independent review that would conduct a traffic simulation study and analyze traffic flow from I-95 to Sea Pines Circle, according to county Public Information Officer Chris Ophardt.
Hilton Head walking away from a joint review led by Kimley Horn in favor of something else might lead the county to re-examine its previous commitment to a traffic analysis, Ophardt added.
Timetable and cost
Any review of the proposed U.S. 278 corridor would take at least 6-9 months to complete, Colin said. It would take about a month to procure an independent firm for the traffic analysis.
Colin said he expected such an analysis to cost between $250,000 and $800,000.
In an email to Beaufort County Administrator Eric Greenway from State Sen. Tom Davis provided to The Island Packet by Davis, the state senator said SCDOT Secretary of Transportation Christy Hall had agreed to support and fund such an analysis.
The town council is expected to vote on the review process at the next Town Council meeting Aug. 16.
