AREA RESIDENTS got a chance to view the proposed plan to replace the two bridges on U.S. 80 to Tybee Island during an open house Monday night, and it was eye-opening — and not on the pleasant side.
The proposals for the new Bull River and Lazaretto Creek bridges calls for replacing the two current, two-lane bridges with two more two-lane bridges.
Why not go with four-lane bridges? That would seem more prudent. If you’re going to go to the trouble and expense of improving access to coastal Georgia’s top beach destination, wouldn’t you want to do it right and completely eliminate the existing bridge bottlenecks?
On the positive side, the proposed new bridges include wide shoulders for emergency access. The current bridges don’t have them. Another selling point are biking and walking paths, separated by barriers, on both spans. That would tremendously improve safety for cyclists who want to bike to or from Tybee, as well as for the occasional runner or walker.
Tybee officials have pushed for new bridges to Tybee due to concerns about traffic, including emergency vehicles, being blocked as a result of an accident. That has happened several times during the busy summer beach season.
The federally funded project will cost $62 million. So far, about $5 million is available for engineering and design work.
About 25 residents turned up during the first hour of the open house, which is somewhat disappointing for a project of this importance. Tybee City Councilman Jan Fox said the decision to keep the bridge to two lanes is not a problem for her, even if it means a longer wait to get on the island. It would be interesting to know if Tybee Mayor Jason Buelterman and the rest of the council feel the same way.
Four-lane bridges offer clear advantages over their smaller cousins. Let’s hope Monday’s session isn’t the final word. In this instance, size matters.