ALERT: Nighttime paving at Boundary Street and Robert Smalls Parkway

01 Aug ALERT: Nighttime paving at Boundary Street and Robert Smalls Parkway

NEWS RELEASE

July 31, 2021

Contact: Sammy Negron, Project Manager Consultant, 843-263-6843

Nighttime paving starts Monday for new intersection of Boundary Street and Robert Smalls Parkway

Starting Monday night, drivers at the northern tip of Robert Smalls Parkway will encounter a temporary one-lane closure to allow the paving of the new intersection of SC Highway 170 and Boundary Street. Drivers will still be able to travel in both directions during the paving.

The paving – and nighttime partial-lane closure – is expected to continue until sunrise on Friday, Aug. 5. Once the paving is completed, additional work will be done to prepare the new intersection for full use, including new traffic signals on larger masts.

No detour is planned during the paving, but motorists may encounter short delays between sunset and sunrise through Friday morning. The Boundary Street-Robert Smalls Parkway intersection beside McDonald’s restaurant is expected to open in mid-August.

“We have been hard at work with this project since January, but a lot of the work has been behind the scenes, getting the underground duct bank ready for the overhead power and communications lines,” Beaufort City Manager Bill Prokop said. “Getting this redesigned intersection open is a major piece of the project.”

The new intersection features a more traditional perpendicular alignment of the roads with left- turn lanes and signals. Like all the new traffic signals being erected on Boundary Street, the new intersection’s signals will be part of a “smart” system designed to help traffic flow smoothly in all conditions.

“This will be a safer and more efficient intersection of our two main roadways in northern Beaufort County, Boundary Street/US Highway 21 and Robert Smalls Parkway/SC Highway 170,” said Sammy Negron, project manager consultant.

Since late winter, crews have been working on the new intersection, placing storm drain pipes and conduit for underground cabling, installing curbing and sidewalks, and arranging for new traffic signal mast arms.

To prepare motorists for the new traffic intersection, signs and stoplights will flash to alert drivers of the pending change.

Once the new intersection is open, the current roadway along Beaufort Plaza will be removed.

When completed, Boundary Street will remain a four-lane roadway but will feature improved intersections with traffic signals; left-turn lanes; and landscaped middle median; and sidewalks and pathways for pedestrians. The project is scheduled for completion in 2018.

For more information, visit www.boundarystreetupdate.com.