09/19/2026
🚧 Big plans for improving traffic
Plans to improve the congested gateway to Hilton Head Island can move forward after a master plan to improve William Hilton Parkway was approved by town council Tuesday.
The plan, which includes an estimated $125.8 million in improvements, was approved unanimously after significant deliberation and multiple public workshops. The site in question is a section of U.S. 278 starting on Jenkins Island and moving eastbound through the historic Stoney neighborhood corridor, ending at the intersection of Spanish Wells and Wild Horse roads.
The site is right next to the eastbound Mackay Creek U.S. 278 bridge, which the South Carolina Department of Transportation is replacing in a separate project.
At workshops earlier this year, council and community members gave feedback on the master plan, voicing concerns about everything from funding to safety to changing a road that runs through a historic Gullah Geechee neighborhood.
Town Manager Marc Orlando said specifications will likely be tweaked as funding sources are secured. But overall, the idea of the project is to address traffic and safety concerns in a corridor that has seen 1,108 accidents since 2018, six fatalities and 81 major injuries.
What’s in the plan?
The proposal includes reconfiguring Squire Pope Road and Chamberlin Drive to move inbound traffic continuously through the intersection. When complete, the Squire Pope/Chamberlin intersection would function the same way as the one currently at Port Royal Drive and Coggins Point Road
A new pedestrian bridge will be built near Squire Pope Road, and Chamberlin Drive would be extended to Spanish Wells Road, with a new pedestrian pathway along Humane Way. Access to Chamberlin Drive, where the town wants to put a Gullah Geechee Heritage Park, would be limited to right turns only.
At Spanish Wells and Wild Horse roads, the town plans to build a flyover bridge connected by roundabouts. But before the flyover bridge is built, deputy town manager Shawn Leininger said the town can make some “baseline improvements” that will help alleviate congestion at Spanish Wells Road, including adding a left turn lane, a right turn lane and a designated thru-lane.
“We are taking all the traffic movements and separating them into their own lane, so every lane is dedicated to a left turn, right turn or through movement,” Leininger said. “In the case of Spanish Wells Road, we have a lot of left turns, and so we are proposing there are two left turns to help manage that peak hour traffic for Spanish Wells Road.”
An access road will also be built on Jenkins Island to expand public access.
Council member Patsy Brison noted that the town already set aside funds for project design in its 2027 budget: $400,000 for the Squire Pope Road intersection and $300,000 for Spanish Wells Road and William Hilton Parkway. Leininger said the town can apply for various forms of federal, state and regional funding to get the project done.
At past workshops, native islanders raised concerns about more traffic coming through a historic community. A 1995 study by the Regional and Urban Design Committee of the America Institute of Architects found that native islanders face significant barriers to reaping the economic benefits of Hilton Head’s tourism economy, problems native islanders say persist to this day.
The town addressed these concerns by declining to purchase additional land, building a pedestrian bridge over Squire Pope Road and maintaining roadway access for the Stewart family at their request.
Some members raise concerns
Council member Steve DeSimone said while he supported the project, he could see the town deciding not to allow lefthand turns for drivers leaving Squire Pope and heading towards Spanish Wells Road, because they’d have to get across several lanes of traffic quickly. Once the Squire Pope Road intersection is changed, DeSimone said they should eliminate possibility of turning left between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.
“I’m for it, I just think we have a little work to do,” DeSimone said.
Both DeSimone and Council member Tamara Becker also expressed concerns about the pedestrian bridge proposed near Squire Pope Road, which has an estimated cost of $14 million. Becker also said she wants more certainty that work happening outside town limits will be funded by Beaufort County. “I’m not really comfortable with the idea that the town is covering the costs for areas outside of the town limits,” she said.
Bridge replacement next door
The site touches the 70-year-old eastbound U.S. 278 bridge, which the South Carolina Department of Transportation is working to replace.
Jared Fralix, assistant county administrator for Beaufort County, told Hilton Head council members that the bridge replacement project will address structural deficiencies, but not congestion. Next steps are right-of-way acquisitions and permitting with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, he said.
Design should be finalized in spring 2027 and construction should begin in early 2028, Fralix said.
