Along Interstate 95 at the southeastern tip of South Carolina, the town of Hardeeville's Exit 5 and Hilton Head Island's Exit 8 are being reconfigured as part of the most expensive contract in the history of the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT).
The agency is undertaking the herculean task of widening I-95, the major east coast roadway shuffling drivers between Maine and Miami. The interstate will expand from two to three lanes in a $825 million project expected to be completed by 2030.
The work will extend across a 10-mi. corridor of I-95 from the Savannah River/Georgia state line northward to approximately a mile beyond the U.S. Highway 278 interchange, which leads to Hilton Head Island. Fourteen bridges will be replaced, and the Exit 8 interchange will be reconfigured into a new, increasingly popular type of roadway designed to keep traffic flowing and reduce collisions.
In addition, a new Exit 3 interchange is being completed as a separate project by the town of Hardeeville.
These upgrades are designed to reduce bottlenecks through the Hardeeville zone, currently one of the worst rural interstates for freight mobility, according to a 2021 SCDOT I-95 feasibility report.
In the short term, however, more traffic headaches are possible.
Craig Winn, the SCDOT program manager for the state's Lowcountry, told The State newspaper in Columbia that the current two lanes of traffic will be kept open — at least during peak hours.
"We do lane closures a little bit differently than other states," he said. "We do have restrictions on our primary routes, our interstate systems, where there's only certain periods of time [when] the contractors can actually close lanes down."
South Carolina's Lowcountry Gets Its First DDI
Hilton Head Island's Exit 8 off I-95 is being reconfigured into what is called a "diverging diamond interchange," or DDI, which looks a bit like shoelaces tied into several knots, The State noted Dec. 15. The relatively new interchange design is used in many areas of the county but is new to that region of the Palmetto State.
Although they might look complex from a birds-eye view, SCDOT said diverging diamonds can be a "game changer" for high-traffic areas.
The new-style intersection improves traffic flow by eliminating the need for drivers to make left turns across oncoming traffic. Instead, it temporarily shifts drivers in both directions to the opposite sides of the road. Clear signage, pavement markings and traffic signals help guide drivers through the roadway.
"Over the past few years, multiple interchanges throughout the state have been converted to DDIs and helped to reduce conflict points with crossing traffic," SCDOT said in a Facebook post.
Once the freeway project is finished, drivers leaving Hilton Head on U.S. 278 going toward I-95 southbound will approach a traffic light. When the light is green, motorists will cross the intersection and maneuver into what would conventionally be the eastbound lanes. They can then make a left turn directly onto the I-95 southbound on-ramp.
Similarly, eastbound U.S. 278 traffic, on a green light, will cross over to the westbound lanes and merge onto northbound I-95, eliminating the need for separate left-turn signals.
Drivers who want to remain traveling east or west on U.S. 278 will encounter another traffic signal. If the light is green, they will be funneled back to what is considered the "normal" side of the highway.
The I-95 Exit 8 project also involves eliminating the intersection at Medical Center Drive, which provides access to hotels and restaurants, as well as Novant Health's Coastal Carolina Medical Center.
SCDOT's plans show the intersection will be moved approximately one-fifth of a mile to Dolnik Drive. A traffic circle will be built where the new road connects to Brickyard Road, allowing drivers to head west, looping back to the shops, hotels, hospital and apartments currently under construction.
SCDOT Improves One Hardeeville Interchange, Creates Another
At Purysburgh Road, near the border with Georgia, plans also call for Hardeeville to get a new I-95 Exit 3 interchange with I-95.
In an interview back in September with The State, SCDOT's Winn said he did not have a date for the start of that construction but was expecting to seek bids at the end of 2025.
The transportation agency's plans show that Exit 3 also will likely be a diverging diamond interchange. To reduce vehicles stacking on the interstate, SCDOT will build the DDI to keep drivers safer by eliminating left turns in front of on-coming traffic.
In addition, Hardeeville's I-95/U.S. 17 Exit 5 will see modifications to support the traffic that has increased due to the city's growth as a major shipping and logistics hub. SCDOT plans to change the off-ramps from the interstate so that they end at a traffic signal, rather than forcing drivers to yield to traffic from U.S. 17.
A new frontage road connecting to U.S. 17 also will be built farther away from the interchange, The State learned. The road will direct traffic behind gas stations, restaurants and fireworks stores.
Hardeeville's growth is driven by the area's proximity to the Savannah Ports, I-95 and various rail lines. Millions of square feet of logistics and manufacturing space are quickly appearing along the U.S. 17 corridor; the South Atlantic Logistics Terminal alone, which broke ground late last year, will span more than 800 acres and is planned to include as much as 6 million sq. ft. of warehouse and industrial space upon completion.
More large fulfillment centers means more truck traffic, and the new traffic signals at the Hardeeville and Hilton Head Island I-95 exits are designed to offer some relief.
