Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transportation Projects topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Beaufort County transportation panel reviews contract completions and moves to apply for federal bridge grant
Summary
Committee members heard contract updates on local paving and signal projects, learned the State Infrastructure Bank accepted a financing update for a three-lane Hilton Head bridge concept, and were told the county will join DOT in an Aug. 1 federal large-bridge grant application to seek roughly $200 million.
The Beaufort County Transportation Committee on Tuesday received a series of contract and project updates and was told county staff and the state will jointly pursue a federal large-bridge grant to advance the Hilton Head bridge work.
Troy Matthews reported multiple contract milestones, saying Contract 3110 (Lansin Road) was completed by Blight with only minor "thermo" work and final punch-list items remaining, and that peak pavement markings are 100% complete. He also described traffic-signal foundation work under Contract 8641 at Robert Smalls Parkway and Council Rock Road: "There's a total of 7 foundations they've actually poured," Matthews said.
On the larger Hilton Head crossing, Brian Bauer said the State Infrastructure Bank has accepted an updated financing package for a three-lane bridge concept and that the DOT flagged an opportunity for a federal large-bridge grant. Bauer said the county and DOT will submit a joint application; committee discussion put the likely grant request in the neighborhood of $200 million. "That would be a joint application from the DOT and county," Bauer said, and the application deadline is Aug. 1. Committee members were told they should expect notice of results later this year or early next year.
Committee questions focused on whether the federal money would be restricted to bridge work. Bauer and others said the large-bridge grant would fund only the scope described in the application and "would fund the bridge only," not unrelated county uses.
Members also discussed phasing and district responsibility: large DOT projects can be assigned to different resident-construction engineers depending on district, and bridge or large-structure work may shift to Charleston bridge offices for oversight.
The committee did not take new formal action on a bridge contract during the meeting; council previously authorized the administrator to proceed with the grant application.
Next steps: staff will file the federal grant application by the Aug. 1 deadline and report back on any updates when available.
