A lot has happened in the past month regarding Route 278 Corridor issues:

On January 2, 2020 I sent a 19 page report (Missed Signals) to the SC State Infrastructure Bank including a cover letter asking them to postpone ($120 million of requested) implementation funding of the Corridor project until the proper studies are done to prove we have the best plan, and that it will work. I have included copies of the report and cover letter in the Documents Section of Next Door.

A January 22, 2020 Packet OP-ED was published. This article provides a concise synopsis of the lack of data and poor planning on the Corridor project. I have included it in the Documents Section of Next Door.

This Petition to inject data and analytic thinking into the Corridor Planning process now has over 2000 signatures. Please pass the word to your friends to sign it. This is one of the best tools in our campaign. 

Copies of all the above documents were sent to Beaufort County and Hilton Head Councils.

A new advocacy group - Coalition of Island Neighbors (COIN) was formed including the Corridor issues in their goals.    https://www.facebook.com/groups/1460139940807776/

Citizens are trying by all means to convince Hilton Head Town Council to support a short independent engineering study including computer simulation analysis of our actual traffic flows, possible options, through-put and costs. That includes validating that the SCDOT’s plans will work.

Some on Town Council are in favor of such a study. Others seem open minded and inquisitive. But a few seem unwilling to analytically explore our best set of options. Please talk, email or write to your Town Councilperson and the Mayor, asking for an independent engineering analysis of our options. Their names can be found at https://www.hiltonheadislandsc.gov/council/tcmembers.cfm

By way of background, the Route 278 Corridor Project was funded by Beaufort County Citizens both through our State taxes as well as the special sales tax we voted on ourselves in 2018. Yet this project is controlled by a small number of people - many in a secret lobbying group called the Greater Island Council (GIC.)  The Town’s Corridor Committee is over half composed of members of the GIC, Chamber of Commerce, and those involved in Tourism and Development.  What happened to Residents First?

The Corridor Committee’s current direction is to endorse new 6 lane bridges, and a 6 lane highway going into multiple traffic lights as a solution to our problem, but there are no credible analytic studies to back up this plan, or proof that it will work. It is quite likely that the delay of those lights will eat up most or all of the capacity added by the extra lane. But, independent engineering studies to validate their plan and illuminate other possible options, such as a route to the Cross-Island Parkway bypassing traffic lights, have been rejected by the Corridor Committee.

SCDOT did produce some data in December, but upon close inspection it confirmed that the intersections and traffic lights were a major problem. Their document has now been reclassified as a draft.  In January, after many SCDOT meetings with no data and just in time for a Citizen requested vote to have the Corridor Committee endorse independent traffic engineering and simulation studies, SCDOT made a surprise off-agenda appearance saying that they had done such studies but could not show them to us until the fall. Citizens launched a Freedom of Information Act request to immediately obtain those studies. (A cynical person might say that the surprise SCDOT revelation was intended to deflect the vote to endorse independent studies. They might also conclude that seeing the SCDOT studies in the fall was too far down the road for an effective response.)    

That is why there is now a growing outcry from Citizens to have independent engineers look at our problem more analytically and provide taxpayers with a range of options including  capacity, through-put, and costs of each, so that we can make informed decisions. It is incredible that after 15 months and untold charges by SCDOT, that we do not yet have such data.  This entire current process seems to be driven politically and not analytically.

Many believe that the cost of the Corridor project will exceed $300 million and may reach $500 million. No Corporation would commit such a large sum with the flimsy data we now have, especially after 15 months.  

Citizens are striving for independent data to prove that we are purchasing the right plan and that it will work. Town Council must clear away the politics and take charge to ensure this. There will be an important meeting of Town Council on Tuesday February 18 at 4:00 pm in Town Council Chambers on this topic. Please come, comment, or just stand up to show support for the speakers. Please also sign the Petition and consider calling or writing your Councilperson and the Mayor.

Please let me know if you have any problems accessing the Documents section on Next Door. Use the email below. I’ll get copies to you by other means, if needed.

Thanks,  Steve Baer   salestax@roadrunner.com