Beaufort County updates Hilton Head council on revised US 278 eastbound bridge plan and grant status

Beaufort County representative Jared Fralix briefed the Hilton Head Island Town Council at a workshop April 28 on a revised plan to replace the eastbound spans of US 278 that cross Skull Creek and Mackay Creek near Pinkney Island.

Fralix said the county has rescoped the project to address structural deficiencies in the eastbound bridges rather than the corridor-wide widening originally proposed. "We moved that 10% design to about a 30% design this past fall," he said, and the project is now roughly "60% design complete with the revised project." He told the council the team is preparing a federal environmental submission intended to qualify as a NEPA categorical exclusion and plans to begin major right‑of‑way acquisition—primarily on Pinckney (Pinkney) Island—if Federal Highway returns approval.

Why it matters: the previously broader corridor plan included additional lanes and other widening elements; the revised scope limits near-term work to bridge replacement and related access changes but preserves physical provisions for future lanes. Fralix said the design will accommodate a future third eastbound lane and could be sized to support four lanes when the westbound spans are eventually replaced.

Key details: Fralix and the county team provided schedule and budget context. The county has advanced the design from earlier concept levels to roughly 60% and expects to submit the environmental document to Federal Highway with the hope of a response in June. If the federal review allows, the next phase is right-of-way acquisition and final design; major right-of-way actions will involve federal agencies such as U.S. Fish and Wildlife because of impacts on Pinkney Island. The county anticipates bidding the project in late 2027 and, if a contractor is procured on schedule, to begin construction in early 2028 with a 2½‑year build that would put completion in the summer of 2030.

On funding, Fralix said the county applied with SCDOT for a large federal bridge grant last August and has not yet received a decision. He said the revised project is being advanced with available local funds: "we're building a project with the funds that we have available." Council members asked how a positive federal grant decision would affect the schedule; the county answered that a timely federal award could allow re‑scoping back to the larger corridor project, but if a grant decision arrives after work has progressed the county would need to coordinate with SCDOT and the State Infrastructure Bank on next steps.

Fralix described the bridge as sized and designed for a long service life: "This structure has a design life of 75 years." The county said the new eastbound structure will be built for three lanes but will initially be striped for two, with a 10‑foot inside shoulder sized to carry a future third lane.

Next steps: staff said they will submit the environmental package to Federal Highway, start right-of-way negotiations for Pinckney Island if clearance comes back, and continue final design. Council members and county staff said they will monitor Federal Highway's grant decision and plan for temporary interventions if inspections show the existing deficient spans need short‑term work while the replacement advances.

No formal council action was taken at the workshop; Jared Fralix concluded with an offer to return for additional updates as the federal review and right-of-way actions progress.