"We're still at the very beginning of what that entire corridor improvement is going to look like." Hardeeville City Manager Josh Gruber said that last November, when he also told the Island Packet the city had no plans to widen Argent Boulevard.
Ten months later, Jasper County has a widening plan on the table. The project would take the nearly four-mile, two-lane road to four lanes over about five years. "The latest projections we have are approximately an $80 million project," Jeff Buckalew of Infrastructure Consulting & Engineering told the Island Packet in late September.
The bagged signal heads at U.S. 278 and the torn-up corner at Short Cut Road belong to the same plan. Together they are the first stage of a project that would leave Argent with signals at seven intersections, a center turn lane or planted median, and a 10-foot path on each side. The road works as a quick way around McGarvey's Corner today, and it is being rebuilt as a main corridor. The public comment window on how that happens closes October 16.
A Shortcut That Grew Its Own Shortcuts
Argent runs between U.S. 278 and S.C. 170, and drivers use it to skip the busy interchange of those two highways at McGarvey's Corner. A 2023 traffic study counted upwards of 14,800 vehicles a day on Argent. The same year, SCDOT counted 39,200 vehicles a day on the four-lane stretch of S.C. 170 between McGarvey's Corner and Lowcountry Drive. That makes Argent a two-lane road carrying more than a third of the traffic on a four-lane state highway next door.
The Island Packet tied the growth to new neighborhoods, apartment complexes, retirement communities and businesses built along the road in recent years. Those additions put Argent in the "major collector" road class. Newer stops along the corridor include the James Fisher Memorial Foundation YMCA. It opened April 9 at 11010 East Argent Parkway with a 33,100-square-foot building offering fitness, aquatics and child watch. Parker's Kitchen held its grand-opening ribbon cutting March 5 at Highway 170 and Argent Parkway.
The corridor even has a shortcut inside the shortcut. Short Cut Road links S.C. 170 to Argent, and drivers coming from both roads use it to avoid the Argent and S.C. 170 intersection about half a mile away. Short Cut and Jasper Station Road both meet Argent at the same spot, but they don't line up. SCDOT couldn't put a signal there because of that offset. So every light on this road depends on the road itself being reshaped first.
Where Each Light Stands This Week
As of October 4, Argent's signals are at four different stages.
- U.S. 278 and Argent Boulevard: installed, activation scheduled. SCDOT put the lights up in June, and they stayed covered while crews ran power to them. WTOC reported September 14 that SCDOT expected the lights, the new turn lanes and a dedicated left-turn signal to go live by the end of September. The Island Packet reported the same target on September 18. An Island Packet story on September 29 still described the light as switching on later this year.
- Short Cut Road and Jasper Station Road: installed, waiting on the realignment. SCDOT has started putting up the lights. They won't turn on until Hardeeville finishes its $1.5 million project to line up the two roads.
- East Argent Parkway, New River Parkway and the S.C. 170 end: already signalized. All three existing lights stay in the plan.
- Sundance Drive at Sgt. William Jasper Boulevard, and Village Drive: proposed. These two new signals are part of the widening plan. Sundance at Sgt. William Jasper Boulevard is the Sun City Hilton Head entrance. No published installation date was found for either.
That makes seven signal locations across roughly four miles. Three are working today, two are on poles waiting to turn on, and two are still proposals. The Island Packet's summary of the plan gives a total of six, but the locations it lists add up to seven.
What Changes at the Two New Intersections
At U.S. 278, Argent used to end at a single stop sign. Eastbound drivers turning left onto Argent had to cross two lanes of oncoming traffic. Drivers leaving Argent to head left had to cross three lanes, and they also had to wait for those turning drivers first. Argent had no right-turn lane, so drivers turning right waited in the same line. The 2023 traffic study ranked the intersection as the second most common crash site on Argent.
SCDOT has since added a right-turn lane on Argent and lengthened the left-turn lane on U.S. 278. When the light comes on, it will flash yellow for a short transition period before switching to the normal red, yellow and green cycle. Eastbound U.S. 278 drivers will get their own left-turn arrow. No road sits across from Argent, so those drivers won't have to yield to oncoming traffic on a green.
At Short Cut Road, the fix is about the road itself. The city is shifting Short Cut, which comes into Argent from the east, slightly south so it lines up with Jasper Station Road. The work was supposed to wrap up in June. Jodie McMahon, the city's Capital Improvement Program director, said moving utility lines turned out to have "many elements of difficulty." That work also has to pass inspection by the Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority. If everything goes to plan, paving and striping will be done by November 30, and the city expects the lights to be running by Christmas. The city posts updates on the Argent Shortcut Road project page and its broader Argent Boulevard page.
The Four-Lane Plan, in Two Versions
The widening is one of the first of 16 major projects Jasper County voters approved in 2024 under a 1% "penny" sales tax. That tax is expected to raise about $470 million for roads and greenbelt work. The county has also received another $12 million through the Lowcountry Council of Governments' Traffic Improvement Plan. Jasper County, the Lowcountry Area Transportation Study, SCDOT and the Federal Highway Administration are all involved.
Both versions of the plan share the same basic cross-section. The county's own project story map lays out the full penny-tax program.
- One added 12-foot travel lane in each direction
- A 15-foot center turn lane where driveways sit on both sides or close together
- A 15-foot raised grass median where there are no driveways, mostly along Sun City Hilton Head's expansion
- A 10-foot shared-use path on each side, with curbing, storm drainage and more than six feet of gutter and curb lawn between walkers and traffic
The two alternatives differ in where the extra land comes from.
| Alternative 1: Center alignment | Alternative 2: Asymmetrical alignment | |
|---|---|---|
| Centerline | Mostly stays where it is today | Shifts from side to side along the route |
| Where land comes from | Both sides of the road | Mostly the north side near U.S. 278, then mostly the south side as the road passes Sun City Hilton Head toward S.C. 170 |
| Effect on developed property | Affects developed properties on both sides | Designed to reduce effects on already developed properties |
If a design moves forward and another public meeting is held, Buckalew said Jasper County will follow SCDOT policy and procedures for buying right of way and easements. Speed limits stay at 45 mph on both ends and 55 mph in the middle until construction starts. The county is expected to revisit a 45 mph limit for the full widened road.
Twelve Days Left to Weigh In
The in-person meeting was October 1 at the Palmetto Electric Cooperative community room in Hardeeville, but written comments are open through October 16. Comments go to Jeff Buckalew in either of two ways.
- Email [email protected].
- Mail Argent Blvd. Input, c/o Infrastructure Consulting & Engineering, 181 Bluffton Road, Suite C-102, Bluffton, SC 29910.
The choice between the two alignments affects who gives up land and where. The median-or-turn-lane design affects which driveways keep a direct left turn. The project is expected to take five years once it moves forward. So the version settled this fall is likely the Argent Boulevard that households off Sun City's expansion, East Argent Parkway and New River Parkway will drive for years after that.
If you own along Argent or have been watching homes near it, how these alternatives play out is worth understanding before your next move. Lorie Sauer follows Hardeeville corridor projects like this one. She can walk you through which side of the road each version would widen near a property you're considering, then set up a time to see it in person.