Would you pay $425M to save 15 minutes of drive time? Hilton Head weighs that option. (2024)

HILTON HEAD ISLAND— Despite seven years of discussion, a slew of lingering questions and renewed frustrations remain over a project that will bring a new bridge to Hilton Head and the town's portion of a massive corridor project.

One big question: How much time will the project save drivers?

About 15 minutes, according to information that came out this week. And at an estimated cost of $425 million.

Town officials initially planned to meet June 20 to consider a memorandum of agreement to allow the S.C. Department of Transportation to move forward with theU.S. 278 corridor project — through which the DOT and Beaufort County aim to make improvements along the connection between Bluffton and Hilton Head Island, from Moss Creek Drive to Spanish Wells Road.

Following a six-hour meeting earlier this week, the agenda for the June 20 meeting was changed. Instead of considering the memorandum, town officials will now try to provide more information and answers about a project that has been discussed for years.

"Maximum savings is 15 minutes approximately at the cost of somewhere around half a billion dollars,"Councilmember Tamara Beckersaid June 17 during a workshop meeting when shequestioned the feasibility of the project as well as its environmental and community impacts. "Calculate in the impact to (Big) Stoney (Historic Gullah Neighborhood) and the impact to each and every one of us as this creates more issues for us to deal with in the future down into the island."

During that workshop, town staff, elected officials and a consultant shared updates and findings over the latest six-month analysis of four alternatives for the project. What remained clear amid lingering questions was that Alternative 1, which closely matches what the DOT originally proposed, continues to look like the front-runner for changes to Highway 278 on Hilton Head Island.

Under Alternative 1, drivers would save an estimated 15.8 minutes traveling eastbound along WilliamHilton Parkway between Moss Creek and Indigo Run during the morning peak hour. They would save an estimated 15.4 minutes heading westbound during the evening rush hour, according to an analysis by the town's consultant. The consultant estimated how well the project could handle congestion and increased traffic needs 20 years down the road.

If a new bridge is built but no changes are made to the four lanes of traffic in the corridor, the consultant estimated that by 2045 it would take approximately 25.7 minutes to travel westbound along William Hilton Parkway between Moss Creek and Indigo Run during the evening rush hour. That travel time is estimated to drop to approximately 10.3 minutes if the suggested lane widening and street-level intersection improvements under Alternative 1 are made.

Updated figures for travel time savings were not provided for the other three alternatives that town officials are considering.

In early May, DOT officialscited concernsof higher costs, longer timelines and greater community impacts after evaluating the town’s four proposed alternatives. DOT found that Alternative 1 remains the most feasible and would cost an estimated $425 million.

The main purpose of the overall project is to address structural deficiencies at the existing eastbound MacKay Creek bridge and reduce congestion while expanding four lanes that exist now on four separate bridges carrying traffic on and off the island to a single six-lane bridge.

The bridges belong to and are maintained by DOT. For construction to move forward, however, Hilton Head Island has to give municipal consent. Before doing so, town staff and officials are considering multiple possibilities for the final mile stretch of the project within town limits.

In 2023, the town hired engineering and planning firm Lochmueller Group to develop options for the project’s last mile. For months, Lochmueller representatives have met with town staff and an independent review committee to narrow multiple possibilities down to four potential plans, called alternatives, for William Hilton Parkway.

Each alternative carries a price tag higher than the state’s preferred option of $425 million. Beaufort County has secured $120 million from the State Infrastructure Bank in addition to $80 million raised through a 1 percent sales tax voters passed in 2018 to “repair and/or replace the existing spans of the bridges to Hilton Head Island.”

A significant contribution will also come from DOT, though the town is likely on the hook for any additional necessary funding should a more expensive alternative be selected.

While adamantly discussed, the final designs of the project are far from drafted. The next major step in moving forward will be a memorandum of agreement through which the town will lay out its stipulations around the project and grant municipal consent.

"The way to make this a reality is to have a steadfast and concrete memorandum of agreement that spells out exactly what it is that we expect, not only from the county, but from the state as well from all parties involved," Mayor Alan Perry said during the June 17 meeting. "It has to be airtight, it has to be specific in its language and it has to be protective."