How long can a road stay a shortcut once traffic lights start going up along it? Argent Boulevard is the nearly 4-mile, two-lane connector in Hardeeville that lets drivers get from U.S. 278 to S.C. 170 without going through McGarvey's Corner. The road has done that job with almost no signals. It is now partway into a long rebuild. When it's done, Argent will have six traffic lights, including one at Sun City Hilton Head's own intersection, plus a wider road with a landscaped median along Sun City and walking paths on both sides.
The two signals going live this fall and winter are the start of that plan.
The two lights that arrive first
The first light is at U.S. 278 and Argent Boulevard. Until this year, a single stop sign at the end of Argent controlled the intersection. Drivers heading east on U.S. 278 and turning left crossed two lanes of oncoming traffic. Drivers on Argent turning left crossed three lanes and had to wait for the U.S. 278 left-turners to go first. There was no right-turn lane on Argent, so right-turners waited in the same line. SCDOT installed the signals in June and added a right-turn lane on Argent in July. It also lengthened the left-turn lane on U.S. 278.
The Island Packet reported in September that SCDOT had set the end of September as its activation target. SCDOT also said the light would start with a flashing-yellow pattern for a "short transition period" before switching to full red, yellow and green. WTOC reported the same end-of-month target on Sept. 14. Even after the light goes to full color, the new turn lanes still set the order of who goes when.
The second light is at Argent, Short Cut Road and Jasper Station Road, and this one needed more work. Short Cut Road and Jasper Station Road meet Argent at about the same spot without lining up, and SCDOT couldn't add a signal at an offset intersection. Hardeeville's $1.5 million realignment project, started in 2025, is moving Short Cut Road slightly south so it lines up with Jasper Station Road. Short Cut Road matters because drivers use it as a shortcut off the shortcut. It connects S.C. 170 to Argent and skips the Argent and S.C. 170 intersection about half a mile away.
The project was supposed to finish in June 2026. Moving utility lines slowed it down, and that work has to pass inspection by the Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority. Hardeeville Capital Improvement Program Director Jodie McMahon told The Island Packet that paving and striping would be done by Nov. 30 "if everything proceeds as planned." She said the city expects the lights to be working by Christmas. Until the roads are aligned and the signal is on, expect cones and dirt at that intersection for a few more weeks.
Where those two lights fit in the finished road
On their own, the two signals look like separate safety fixes. The county's widening plan shows they're part of one design. The plan adds four signals along Argent. Some are already installed and waiting to be switched on. Two existing signals stay, for a total of six, according to The Island Packet's report on the plan. From U.S. 278 to S.C. 170, here's how the road would look:
- U.S. 278 and Argent Boulevard: new signal, installed in June 2026
- Sundance Drive and Sgt. William Jasper Blvd.: new signal, the one the Island Packet describes as Sun City Hilton Head's intersection
- Village Drive: new signal
- Jasper Station Road and Short Cut Road: new signal, installed and waiting on the realignment
- East Argent Parkway and New River Parkway intersection: existing signal, stays
- S.C. 170: existing signal at Argent's end, stays
The Sundance Drive light is the one closest to home. Right now, a light at that intersection is part of the plan. No activation date has been announced, the way one has for the U.S. 278 and Short Cut Road signals.
There's a reason the county is adding signals and planning more capacity at the same time. A 2023 traffic study counted upwards of 14,800 vehicles a day on Argent. That same year, SCDOT counted 39,200 vehicles a day on the four-lane stretch of S.C. 170 from McGarvey's Corner to Lowcountry Drive. Argent carries well over a third of S.C. 170's volume on half the lanes. The study also ranked the U.S. 278 intersection as the second most common crash location on the road.
Where the extra lanes would come from
The widening plan adds one 12-foot travel lane in each direction. Between the lanes, there would be either a 15-foot center turn lane, where driveways sit on both sides or close together, or a 15-foot raised grass median where there are no driveways. Both sides get a 10-foot shared-use path, with curbing, gutters and a curb lawn that keeps people on the path more than six feet from traffic. The county's project page describes the result as either a four-lane divided road or a five-lane road.
The part of the design that matters most for Sun City is the median. The grassy raised median would run mainly along the stretch of Argent next to Sun City Hilton Head's expansion. Businesses with entrances on Argent would get the two-way center turn lane instead.
Jasper County showed two options for finding the land. Under Alternative 1, the road keeps its current centerline and takes land on both sides, which affects developed properties along the corridor. Under Alternative 2, the centerline shifts from side to side to reduce impacts on property that's already built. Jeff Buckalew is a project manager with Infrastructure Consulting & Engineering, the firm Jasper County hired to manage its transportation sales tax program. He told The Island Packet how the second option plays out along the road:
"In areas closer to U.S. 278, widening focuses more on the left or north side of Argent. As the road winds past Sun City Hilton Head towards SC 170, widening focuses more on the right or south side of Argent."
The county's public meeting handout calls these a center alignment and an asymmetrical alignment, and both include the 10-foot paths. The public meeting was Oct. 1 at Palmetto Electric Cooperative, and written comments closed Oct. 16. The county hasn't announced a preferred alternative or a date for choosing one.
The daily drive won't feel different for a while. Speed limits stay at 45 mph at both ends of Argent and 55 mph in the middle until widening begins. Jasper County is expected to look at lowering the limit to 45 mph along the whole widened road.
Why the wider road is a decade out
Argent is one of the first of 16 major projects in the 1% "penny tax" that Jasper County voters approved in 2024. The tax is expected to raise about $470 million for roads and greenbelt work. Here's the schedule from the county's project page:
| Phase | County estimate |
|---|---|
| Preliminary engineering and design | 2026–2027 |
| Environmental review | 2026–2028 |
| Right-of-way acquisition | 2028–2029 |
| Utility coordination | 2028–2030 |
| Construction | 2030–2033 |
| Estimated completion | 2035 |
The county's program schedule page shifts a few phases. It lists right-of-way acquisition for 2027–2029 and construction for 2030–2034, with work starting around 2030 or 2031. Both versions end around 2035. WTOC's Oct. 2 report also put the start around 2030.
The price is still moving. The county's project page lists an estimated $80 million. Buckalew told The Island Packet that "the estimated cost of the project continues to grow." WTOC's report used a lower figure of $57 million. Funding beyond the penny tax includes $12 million from the Lowcountry Council of Governments. The county also plans to coordinate the work with its S.C. 170 widening and access management project, at the other end of Argent.
So the drive changes in two stages. First come the two signals: SCDOT's U.S. 278 light, which starts in flashing yellow before going to full color, and the Short Cut Road light, which Hardeeville expects to have working by Christmas. Argent will still have two lanes and its current speed limits for years after that, with right-of-way work around the end of the decade and construction after it. Hardeeville keeps a dedicated Argent Boulevard page for project updates, and Jasper County's project page will show when a preferred alignment is chosen.
When a client asks what Sun City's west side will look like in five years, I want to answer with dates, not guesses. If you're thinking about where you'll live in the Lowcountry and want someone tracking these details for you, Michele Niles can help. Schedule a white-glove consultation.
