Reader sees dire need for second mainland crossing bridge to address traffic, safety
Second bridge needed
Vehicle access to and from Hilton Head Island is now exclusively via the Graves Bridge. Should that bridge be damaged by a boat or vehicle, over 30,000 people could be stranded without access to necessary services.
The risk of cutting off vehicle traffic between Hilton Head and the mainland is great, especially with the proposed single six-lane bridge instead of two bridges on separate piers.
Several boat accidents have damaged bridge supports in recent years. All of these accidents were in calm weather. In difficult conditions, a barge could easily take out several bridge supports.
Even if one lane of Graves Bridge survived, the traffic congestion would be severe. The bridge traffic funnel causes enough delay every morning and evening.
To facilitate traffic flow to the south area of Hilton Head Island, as well as providing an alternate route on and off the island, there should be an additional mainland crossing bridge separate from the existing or proposed bridge. It could connect from the Bluffton Parkway at Buckingham Landing across to South Island.
This will require considerable political leadership, and the longer we delay, the more difficult and expensive the project will be.
Joe Patton, Hilton Head
Lost vision
My daughter is a second year student at USC-Beaufort. I concur withTravis Bland’s recent article about absurd fees and increased tuition costs at S.C. universities.
I have actually taken up this issue with our representative and have engaged with the leadership as best I can, but there is not much of an effort to help or even acknowledge our concern. Specifically, commuter students are required to purchase a meal plan, even though most of them have no need of it. Commuter students are being forced to pay for meals in order to lower the cost of meals for resident students because USC is trying to build a resident program.
If satellite campuses were started to make higher education accessible to more students in our state, we have lost sight of the vision.
Joshua Stone, Beaufort
Grateful patient
Recently I underwent a surgical procedure for total knee replacement at the Outpatient Surgery Center of Hilton Head. Words cannot express how impressed I am with my experience and the care I received for the outpatient procedure.
Leading up to the procedure I was kept informed every step of the way on what was to take place, and any questions I had were answered.
The person who checked me in couldn’t have been warmer or friendlier to both my wife and me. The staff went above and beyond in tending to my safety and minimizing any discomfort. What a great group of caring and professional people they are and what an outstanding surgical center we are fortunate to have in our area.
Jim Walsh, Sun City
Surprised reader
People talk about the liberal bias in the media today, especially newspapers. This has been the reality of the world for a long time now when it comes to both “objective” reporting, and opinion columnists.
It is not just about what is written. A good amount of bias happens with decisions about what is newsworthy, and which stories are placed on the top of the front page. Thursday’s Beaufort Gazette is a perfect example. I was extremely surprised by the headline “Abortion rights groups hail decision by voters in Kansas.”
The headline threw me because I had barely heard the Kansas result mentioned in any of the national news reports I listened to after Tuesday’s primary election. The little I read about the vote made it clear that the ballot initiative was poorly written, and people were concerned that a “yes” vote could lead to banning abortion with no exception for cases of rape.
The result of the Kansas vote was a minor story about the country’s abortion issue. A referendum result on a poorly scripted ballot question was not even close to being front-page worthy.
Larry Lauranzano, Beaufort
