What’s New on the 278 Corridor Project?
The map below shows the Corridor project, including congestion and other problem areas. SCDOT and Beaufort County decided with the 2018 Road Tax Referendum to tackle this, but they covered only part of the problem. The County’s scope stops at Squire Pope Road (B), while SCDOT’s stops at Spanish Wells Road (C). This leaves out major parts of the problem. Residents, who experience the congestion every day, warned of this for years, but were ignored.
A growing number of residents (over 10,500 on a petition) see large problems with SCDOT’s plans. These include: ignoring efficient interfaces to the Cross Island Parkway and Local 278, inadequate analysis of the congestion impacts of 3 traffic lights, complex intersections and merges, early failure, community impact, safety concerns, missing and hidden parts, and a fear that the plan will be genuinely ugly.
A Technical Working Group (TWG) of engineers, financial and military people, formed by Citizens to monitor and analyze the project, filed an 18-page report with Federal and State authorities detailing significant problems. The thrust of this report is that a $328+ million project, consuming 40 acres of wetlands, with missing, hidden and unsafe parts, that cannot prove it will work, with alternatives and impact issues politically eliminated, does not deserve Federal approval. As a Town Councilperson said: We can do better.
For the past 4 years, Beaufort County Council has delayed this project by ignoring these problems and Community concerns.
· Leaked documents show that in September, 2020 the Chair of County Council (Rodman) pressured the County Administrator to ignore concerns from Citizen groups. Meanwhile, the Greater Island Council (GIC), a secret lobbying group with links to the Chamber of Commerce, received privileged access.
· A key County thrust (a Memorandum of Understanding pushed through in the last days of a lame duck Town Council to cripple the following Town Council) was approved at remote St. Helena Island. Inputs from HH citizens and a Town Council member who made the long trip north were rudely cut-off by County Chair Passiment and Vice Chair McElynn.
· County Council neutered 2 requested outside independent studies by designing them to circumvent key citizen questions, and specifically disallowing public input and oversight. Citizens called these studies SHAMS.
· 18 pages of problems were submitted to Federal authorities, backed by over 10,000 petition signers. Yet, the County Engineer told County Council that these were only “some small details”, and left the statement by one Council member that the issues were “minuscule”, uncorrected.
These political machinations have wasted years! Problems first reported in 2020 could have been solved, and we could be building by now!
Municipal Consent by the Town (for the parts on HHI) is required for project approval. Fortunatly, due to public pressure, the Town recently engaged Independent engineers to look at the issues, alternatives and missing parts to guide them before providing their consent. The Mayor has said that: we will leave “No Stone Unturned”, but the County and GIC are pressuring the Town to provide its Consent for their existing defective plan, before the Town’s studies are complete. That would be insanity!
Recently, an old idea – an Express Bypass of the 2 congesting traffic lights was proposed once again. This 3750 ft (0.7 mile) bypass could be applied fairly rapidly to eliminate congestion, is more robust to growing traffic than SCDOT’s plan, could dovetail with parts of SCDOT’s plan, and could be built mainly on Town-owned land.
Hopefully, the Express Bypass will receive fair consideration and review by the Town’s (No Stone Unturned) Independent Study.
Steven M. Baer MSEE Beaufort County Council 2007-2013