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Local officials are one step closer to extending the Bluffton Parkway all the way out to I-95 after the City of Hardeeville received $500,000 in federal earmarks.
The allocation, announced in late December, will be used to conduct an environmental impact study and to make a justification report to submit to federal authorities, essentially a document explaining why the extended roadway and its new interchange with I-95 are needed. The extension of the Bluffton Parkway — which currently ends at S.C. 170 — to the highway is something that has been in the works since construction on the Bluffton Parkway began years ago. Officials in Bluffton, Hilton Head and Hardeeville see the extension as a critical way to alleviate pressure on U.S. 278 and to serve as an additional evacuation route in the case of a hurricane.
Hardeeville requested the money through Rep. Joe Wilson and Sen. Lindsay Graham, said Ted Felder, interim city manager. The total road construction is predicted to cost about $40 million.
“We obviously have to deal with finding other funding sources for the actual construction of the exit,” Felder said. “That’s not covered in this.”
The city is hoping to have construction underway within five years, though the real planning work is only just beginning.
“We’ve made pretty remarkable progress considering we just started a year ago,” he said. While the proposed new Exit 3 from I-95 has been discussed for years, the recent growth and economic boom west of Bluffton makes it all the more pressing, Felder said.
“It’s certainly an important part of the Bluffton Parkway, but (also) certainly the new Jasper port terminal and the City of Hardeeville,” he said. “There’s a lot of reasons we need that exit.”
