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Bluffton presents LATS priorities and project-cost estimates; committee to seek prioritized municipal lists
Summary
Bluffton officials outlined local growth pressures, corridor studies in the LATS long-range plan, and a phased cost estimate (roughly $140M for 2022—25 projects, $384M for 2026'030 and about $550M total through 2030) as the committee readies a prioritized list for a possible penny sales-tax referendum.
Bluffton ' The town of Bluffton presented a detailed overview to the Transportation Advisory Committee on March 4 of local growth, near-term projects and corridor studies from the LATS long-range transportation plan, and urged coordination as the committee assembles a prioritized project list.
Stephen, representing Bluffton, said the town is now about 54 square miles with roughly 40,000 residents and that 92% of the town lies within long-standing development agreements. He warned that most major roads that serve the town are county- or state-owned, which constrains what municipalities can accomplish without county coordination.
The presentation highlighted near-term commercial and medical development in Buckwalter and along Bluffton Parkway (including a 100,000-square-foot Beaufort Memorial hospital under construction and other hospital projects in permitting), rising school-related traffic, and identified accident "hot spots" in heat maps that prioritize intersection fixes.
On regional planning, Bluffton staff reviewed the LATS long-range transportation plan (25-year outlook to 2045) and said many of the corridor studies and priority projects are already complete. For projects initially identified for 2022—25 (excluding items outside Beaufort County and completed projects), Bluffton staff reported roughly $140 million in estimated costs; with a 10% contingency that rises to about $168 million. The next four-year cluster (2026'030) totaled roughly $384 million; combined 2022'030 project totals were described as about $550 million with contingency assumptions.
Bluffton recommended that the committee consider stacking local CIP and impact-fee funds with county penny-tax proceeds where feasible, and emphasized safety-driven short-term measures such as intersection reconfigurations, limited right-in/right-out conversions, and targeted striping improvements. The presenter also suggested that intelligent traffic-signalization, corridor coordination and access-management plans could improve throughput and safety, though those workstreams may require fiber, a traffic management center and further study.
Committee members asked Bluffton to provide a short ranked list of local priorities (top three to five projects) and to use parameters (not-to-exceed budgets or time horizons) to allow consistent comparison across municipalities. Staff offered a draft sortable spreadsheet and GIS layer that will be used to capture project location, estimated cost, funding source, and shovel-readiness.
Next steps: the committee agreed to request prioritized project lists from each municipality and to use corridor studies and staff cost estimates when assembling a recommendation for county council about referendum timing, bond options and project staging.
