SR 26/US 80 Project

An Initial Concept Team Meeting was held on October 29, 2014, at Tybee Island City Hall. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the project need and purpose, introduce key stakeholders to project team, review project background and current scope, and provide an overview of environmental resources, processes, and agency coordination needed. A Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) meeting was held on November 16, 2015. The TAC for the SR 26 /US 80 project is comprised of local government and community leaders, business owners, agency staff, and the project team. The November 16 meeting updated the TAC on project progress and debriefed all attendees on procedures for the Public Involvement Open House (PIOH). The Public Information Open House (PIOH) for the project was held the following day, on November 17, 2015. Design alternatives were presented and comments from the public were solicited. The setup was informal, with project staff available to answer questions from attendees. Comments about the project were also accepted for ten (10) days following the event. A total of 180 people attended the open house on November 17. Of the 106 respondents who formally commented, 54 were in support of the project, 12 were opposed, 18 were uncommitted, and 22 expressed conditional support. US 80 Bridges and Road Improvements - P I #0010560 SR 26/US 80, between Talahi Island and Tybee Island, is a two-way, two-lane, rural principal arterial with intermittent passing lanes and no dedicated bicycle or pedestrian facilities. The proposed project area includes the bridges over Bull River and Lazaretto Creek. As the only connection between Tybee Island and the mainland, US 80 is designated as a hurricane evacuation route. This roadway is also designated as a future bikeway according to the MPO’s current Long-Range Plan. This project originated from the Coastal Region Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (CORE MPO’s) ARRA-funded US 80 Bridges Replacement Study, which concluded that travel between Tybee Island and the mainland is currently limited, especially for alternative transportation modes, by the existing conditions of US 80 between and including the Bull River Bridge and the Lazaretto Creek Bridge. The MPO also conducted the US 80 Wave Challenge Study, which documented the mobility challenges associated with tourism and special events on Tybee Island. This project was consequently added to the program in 2011 at the request of the Savannah MPO. Scoping and PE phases for this project are programmed in the TIP period while ROW and CST are in the Long-Range Plan. The Lazaretto Creek Bridge has a sufficiency rating below 50 on a scale of 1 to 100, which is considered structurally deficient and indicates that the bridge is eligible for replacement. The existing roadway experiences flooding during peak tide events, storms, and hurricanes. The roadway flooding can cause the roadway to be temporarily closed, and thus can limit emergency exits or evacuation from Tybee Island. According to the volume to capacity ratio, calculated in the travel demand model, developed by GDOT for Savannah’s 2035 Long-Range Transportation Plan, US 80, from west of the Bull River to east of Lazaretto Creek, currently operates at an acceptable level-of-service, in accordance with statewide performance measures. These conditions are anticipated to remain acceptable through the year 2035. However, as documented by the US 80 Wave Challenge Study and US 80 Bridges Study, the roadway often experiences unacceptable congestion on weekends, during peak tourist season, during special events, and when emergency evacuation occurs. The crash rate on this segment of US 80 is 25 percent higher than the statewide rate for comparable roadways; this information takes into account the last three years of data available. Crashes on the bridges sometimes temporarily block travel in both directions, due to their narrow width and the lack of alternate routes. McQueen’s Island Trail, paralleling US 80, is a popular destination for walking, jogging, and bicycling, but lacks connections from and across the existing US 80 bridges. On-site parking at the trail is not sufficient for the number of users. The lack of connections currently also limits the usefulness of the trail as an off-road, pedestrian or bicycle transportation facility to Fort Pulaski National Monument or to Tybee Island. Surveys conducted by the MPO have documented latent demand for a safe Savannah-Tybee bicycle connection. By reducing congestion and delay due to road closures and special events, the improvements on US 80 will ensure that the only route to Tybee Island from the mainland can accommodate future travel for residents and tourists. Improvements are also needed to reduce the frequency and severity of crashes, and to accommodate non-motorized travel and access to Ft. Pulaski and McQueen’s Island Trail.

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