Letter: How to beautify US 278 median

This is in response to a recent letter entitled “Bluffton median lost opportunity,” in which the writer summarizes the negative effect on visitors of poorly planted and maintained area highway medians, primarily U.S. 278.

In recognition that our roadways present the first and last impression on our area visitors, Beaufort County Council created the Southern Beaufort County Corridor Beautification Board. The board recommended a master landscaping plan for 10 miles of U.S. 278 from the Hilton Head Island bridges west to S.C. 170, a good portion of which is located in Bluffton.

Proper landscaping costs approximately $165,000 per mile to install and $15,000 per year to maintain. The board is responsible for the completed landscaping of the median in front of Belfair and has upscale projects underway from Belfair to Rose Hill, and the mile-or-so of medians in front of the Tanger outlets.

Once these projects are completed, approximately two miles will have been landscaped. However, all of the funds for median beautification for the foreseeable future will have been expended.

If the readers believe that beautiful roadways can be of major benefit to our communities and should be a part of the “Bluffton State of Mind,” citizens in Bluffton, and the entire county for that matter, need to make this a funding priority by contacting their elected officials and the town administrator.

This story was originally published April 14, 2017 at 11:38 AM with the headline "Letter: How to beautify US 278 median."