Nice while it lasted: When you’ll start paying the toll on the Cross Island again

Drivers on Hilton Head will have to pay the Cross Island Parkway toll again starting Wednesday, Sept. 11, at 12:01 a.m., according to the S.C. Department of Transportation.

The toll has been lifted since Monday, Sept. 2, to allow for evacuations, reentry and recovery, according to SCDOT.

The Cross Island Parkway was identified as an evacuation route for Hurricane Dorian, and those driving on the island today will not have to pay the toll.

The cost of traveling each way on the parkway is typically $1.25 for a two-axle vehicle.

Good news: If you regularly pay the Cross Island toll, you can expect to have more change in your pocket beginning July 1, 2021.

That’s the date SCDOT will make the last payment on the $81-million project, Roy Tolson, the department’s director of innovative finance and tolls, said in October 2018.

The toll booths will be removed, and drivers can expect a quicker trip to and from the south end of the island.

Katherine Kokal

The Island Packet

843-560-9158

Katherine Kokal graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and joined The Island Packet newsroom in 2018. Before moving to the Lowcountry, she worked as an interviewer and translator at a nonprofit in Barcelona and at two NPR member stations. At The Island Packet, Katherine covers Hilton Head Island’s government, environment, development, beaches and the all-important Loggerhead Sea Turtle. She has earned South Carolina Press Association Awards for in-depth reporting, government beat reporting, business beat reporting, growth and development reporting, food writing and for her use of social media.