Despite compromises, disagreements over US 278 bridge project are expected to continue
The U.S. 278 bridge project took one step forward Monday night, but a lack of resident input in the bridge review process could prompt future disagreements between the county and the town of Hilton Head.
The Beaufort County Council passed a memorandum of agreement, which will allow the county and town to form a committee to select a consultant for an independent review of the project. It also will preserve the town’s ability to give or refuse approval for the project contingent upon the results.
The memorandum will now go to the town of Hilton Head for consideration. The town is holding a special council meeting Tuesday.
If approved, the review committee would be composed of three Beaufort County representatives and three Hilton Head representatives, a change the town requested from the original three-two split.
However, the committee will not include someone representing the residents of Hilton Head, which S.C. senator Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, urged the county to consider on behalf of the town.
County Administrator Eric Greenway recommended keeping citizens out of the process in order to avoid delays, which is the county’s chief concern about the project.
“When the citizens get involved in this situation, we are going to be facing delays on selecting an independent consultant,” Greenway said. “So, I would recommend to the council that you allow the professional staff members that you have hired, both for the county and for Hilton Head Island, to select the appropriate consultant on this and trust that they will do that.”
The project, which aims to replace the bridge connecting Hilton Head Island to the rest of Beaufort County, is expected to cost $328 million, but is about $29 million short from being fully funded.
The county is responsible for starting the project by 2024 and finishing it four years later in 2028, because of an intergovernmental agreement signed with South Carolina Transportation Infrastructure Bank. The county council also voiced concerns about increased costs as a result of delaying the project.
Tamara Becker, the representative for Ward 4 on the Hilton Head Town Council, voiced her displeasure about citizens not being included in the process to select a consultant.
“I find it amazing, the lack of respect given to 10,000 signatures of residents of this county who object to the manner in which you are performing your duties towards Hilton Head Island,” Becker said. “I’m asking for you to not only consider that the professionals are involved, but the people who live in the area that your bridge is going to impact mostly are involved.”
The town of Hilton Head will preserve municipal approval of the project, meaning that when the independent review is completed and the bridge’s design is finalized, the town can still decide whether it will back the project.
The U.S. 278 bridge project has had the county and town at odds for years with the main point of contention over how many bridges the highway needs. The town wants to see two three-lane bridges whereas the county insists that it must be one six-lane bridge.
Because the bridge will cross the intracoastal waterway and the Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge, there are federal guidelines that must be followed. As a result, two-thirds of the project’s design are “non-negotiable” according to County Council Chair Joe Passiment.
Last month, the county council’s public facilities committee voted to “narrow the scope” to get the project started. The current MOA is a modified version of the county’s final attempt to reach an agreement with the town over the issue, before starting work on the portion of the bridge that’s subject to the federal guidelines.
This story was originally published September 27, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
