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COLUMBIA — This November, three Lowcountry counties asked voters to consent to taxing themselves to help finance the local share of three major highway projects that could be transformative for their communities. Jasper County approved their referendum , clearing the way for a new highway exit off Interstate 95 that is expected to generate millions of dollars in revenues for the county and Hardeeville, the small city which sits just north of the Georgia border above the port city of Savannah. Voters in Charleston and Beaufort counties, however, rejected their referendums , leaving the fate of their projects uncertain.
And after a Nov. 20 meeting of the S.C.
Transportation Infrastructure Bank at the Statehouse, the futures of projects like the long-awaited Mark Clark Extension on Interstate 526 and the U.S. Highway 278 bridge project to get to and from Hilton Head Island aren't any less murky.
Charleston County urges state to get $2.3B Mark Clark Extension 'shovel ready' After a sometimes contentious back-and-forth with North Charleston Republican Rep. Chris Murphy during the infrastructure bank board meeting, Charleston County officials failed to strike a deal with the board.
County officials have asked the S.C. Department of Transportation to continue right-of-way acquisitions and submit the project for federal review and permitting .
The county will now await judgement from the state's Joint Bond Review Committee, which is scheduled to meet Dec. 3. Beaufort County officials were ultimately granted a March 31 extension to develop a plan to cover their share of their project after 55 percent of local voters rejected a one-percent sales tax bump to help raise the $190 million county leaders pledged to fund the project.
But even then, plans are still very much fluid, particularly with approximately $300 million in public funds already committed to the project. Now $190M short, the fate of Hilton Head Island bridge project is bleak. What can be done? Speaking on behalf of the county, Beaufort Republican Sen.
Tom Davis suggested that local officials were already considering a litany of options, including raising property taxes, pushing off other projects or seeking additional contributions from Hilton Head Island. They just need more time. "They're cognizant of the fact that the penny sales tax failed, and they now have to look at some unpopular political options," Davis said of Beaufort County officials.
"But they understand that obligation." Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, presents on a Hilton Head Island bridge project on behalf of the Beaufort County Council during a meeting of the S.
C. Transportation Infrastructure Bank in Columbia, Nov. 20, 2024.
Charleston County, however, is likely to face a bumpy road. Proposals to extend I-526 over the Stono River to Johns Island have been gestating for years , to the point where anticipated costs are now nearly $2 billion more than initially projected — and expected to grow even higher. State and county officials face a situation where an inability to move forward could result in a crucial window closing for the project, DOT Secretary Justin Powell told state officials Nov.
20, meaning any future work on the project would return to square one, and the millions of dollars already committed to the project would have been wasted. Justin Powell, secretary of the S.C.
Department of Transportation, testifies during a meeting of the state Transportation Infrastructure Bank in Columbia, Nov. 20, 2024. "If it ends at this point, then basically you are starting over from scratch until, at some point, somebody decides to resume with this project," Powell told the board.
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I'm not trying to say where the funds should come from, or whether the STIB should be paying for Charleston County. But if there's any desire to resume this project in the future, that is the juncture we are at." The state has already committed to pay $420 million as its share of the project, while Charleston County is responsible for the rest.
That's a commitment Charleston County Councilwoman Jenny Costa Honeycutt told state officials she expects them to honor as the county evaluates plans to finance the local $1.8 billion share of the cost. "As far as completing this project, we have already received authorization from our state partners and the JBRC to obtain the record of decision," Honeycutt said, referring to the federal permitting process.
"We were, quite frankly, shocked to learn that it had not already been submitted. "So we are here today asking that the board and the JBRC honor its previous commitment, which is really irrelevant to the outcome of the referendum," she said. Rep.
Chris Murphy, R-North Charleston, asks questions during a meeting of the S.C. Transportation Infrastructure Bank in Columbia, Nov.
20, 2024. However, some on the board, like Murphy, proved skeptical. Particularly after voters soundly rejected funding one of the highest-profile infrastructure proposals in county history by a near 2-to-1 margin on election night.
"This was a referendum on 526," said Murphy. "The voters in Charleston voted overwhelmingly to say 'no,' but you're coming to us and asking us to say 'yes.' In my responsibility as a member of this board and to my constituency — which is the entire state, not just Charleston County — I don't see how it is fiscally prudent to continue down this road to nowhere.
" Permitting paused for Mark Clark as state asks: How will Charleston County pay the bill? The final say will now come from the Joint Bond Review Committee, which vets all major state funding grants before passage by the State Fiscal Accountability Authority, led by Gov. Henry McMaster. It was major news when Hardeeville was named as the future home of South Carolina's second Buc-ee's gas station, which will be built off Exit 8.
However, even bigger plans were in motion for Hardeeville's Exit 3, where for years local officials have been planning extensive warehouse and vehicle fueling infrastructure to support business extending from the shipping industries at the fast-growing port at Savannah. The project is set to start construction immediately. However, after the cost of the project spiked by $81 million after the pandemic, local officials found themselves $35 million short to begin work — a sum Mayor Harry Williams hoped the infrastructure bank would help them make up.
Hardeeville Mayor Harry Williams pitches lawmakers on a $35 million highway exit proposal along Interstate 95 during a meeting of the S.C. Transportation Infrastructure Bank in Columbia, Nov.
20, 2024. The board ultimately approved the funding. The upside is potentially massive.
In their estimate, new economic development at the facilities built off Exit 3 would create approximately 13,500 new jobs, generate $115 million in annual tax revenue and, statewide, support "billions" of dollars in new economic activity. And with a successful tax referendum, local officials already had plans to pay for it. "We're not asking for a handout," Williams said.
"We're asking for an investment." Ultimately, they got it. Buc-ee's is expanding in South Carolina, but when and where will it open?.
