The case for Hardeeville's new I-95 interchange at Purrysburg Road is mostly an argument about Exit 8. That is the exit at US-278, the highway Riverton Pointe sits beside. On Oct. 29, the South Carolina Transportation Infrastructure Bank voted to fund Exit 3 so that traffic bound for Hardeeville has another way on and off the interstate.
Exit 3 can't break ground yet, though. It waits on the I-95 widening, and that widening rebuilds the Exit 8 interchange. For Riverton Pointe, the interchange the new exit is meant to relieve will be the work zone for years before any relief arrives.
What the bank approved on Oct. 29
According to The Post and Courier's report, syndicated on Yahoo News, the board approved the Exit 3 term sheet unanimously, and SIB Chief Operating Officer Charles Cannon confirmed the vote. The deal has two parts:
- $91 million from the state bank for the interchange alone, paid to the South Carolina Department of Transportation.
- About $64.6 million from the landowners, Jasper County and Hardeeville to build the connecting parkways into the property the exit serves.
The day before the vote, Hardeeville City Manager Josh Gruber told WTOC that the project was "the culmination of an 18-year project that is finally at the finish line." He said tax revenue from future development would repay the state bank's loan. In the same report, he said the interchange would open several thousand acres on Hardeeville's south side to development and could create about 10,000 jobs over the next decade.
Why the argument keeps returning to Exit 8
Sen. Tom Davis of Beaufort mediated the final negotiations. Much of his statement on the approval was about the interchanges Hardeeville drivers use now. "Exits 5 and 8 are already overwhelmed, and every new neighborhood adds to the strain," he said, as quoted by The Post and Courier.
The newspaper reported his point that Exit 8 is the main route to Bluffton and Hilton Head Island, but that much of its congestion comes from vehicles heading to or from Hardeeville. "Giving that traffic its own interchange frees up Exit 8 and Highway 278 for those who depend on them daily, and adds capacity when families must evacuate the islands," Davis said. He also said Exit 3 would give first responders another route and called it a needed I-95 connection for hurricane evacuations.
Riverton Pointe is a gated community near US-278, and it's about 14 miles from the Hilton Head beaches. Its residents fall squarely among the people Davis described as relying on that corridor every day.
From a 2009 application to a February stall
Hardeeville and Jasper County first applied to the state bank for Exit 3 in 2009. They asked for $68 million, according to the Post and Courier report, and the sticking point ever since has been who pays what.
That question stalled the project as recently as February. WTOC reported on Feb. 19 that the bank had found the city, county and property owners had not shown they could cover their shares. The bank objected to changes in the deal terms and wanted the parkway contracts signed alongside the interchange contract. The landowners had offered their property as collateral. The bank turned that down, saying it wasn't set up for that kind of arrangement. Chairman John White wrote, "The Bank does not want to fund an interchange to nowhere."
The February report also included a cost figure. The lowest bid, opened in December 2025, came in above $150 million, and the interchange portion alone was $89.5 million. The $91 million approved in October lines up closely with that interchange number. The rest of the cost falls to the local partners and landowners through the parkway share. Davis said the deal sets a new precedent for South Carolina. "Taxpayers should not foot the entire bill for infrastructure that raises private land values," he said.
The order of operations
With the money approved, the timing of Exit 3 depends on the widening. WTOC reported that if the bank approved, Exit 3 construction could begin once crews finish expanding the interstate. SCDOT treats Exit 3 as a separate project led by Hardeeville. It says the widening is being designed to handle the growth the new interchange brings.
Here's the sequence as it stands:
- Aug. 14, 2025. SCDOT broke ground on the I-95 Improvements Project in Jasper County.
- Now through 2030. I-95 is being widened from four lanes to six, from the Knoxboro Bridge on the Georgia side to about a mile north of US-278. The work includes improvements at the Exit 8 interchange, a replacement US-278 bridge over I-95, a new John Smith Road bridge and minor work at Exit 5.
- June 30, 2030. This is the scheduled finish for the widening, contracted to Webber-Ferrovial JV for $728,757,807.03. SCDOT notes that its schedule is subject to change.
- After that. Exit 3 construction can begin.
Until that sequence plays out, Exit 8 is one of the places where the $728 million widening is being built.
What's around Exit 8 this season
The Aug. 7, 2026, project update to the region's transportation planners said roadway work was continuing on the Exit 8 backage roads and in the I-95 median near the Savannah River bridge. SCDOT's Fix the Drive project page, updated in October 2026, says crews are building access roads near Exit 8 and working on bridges at the Savannah River, Sand Island Swamp and SC 46. The same page lists John Smith Road as closed for bridge replacement through 2026.
The interstate wasn't keeping up even before construction began. SCDOT's 2021 feasibility report ranked this stretch of I-95 among the worst rural interstates for freight mobility. The agency expects this part of I-95, including Exits 5 and 8, to see heavy congestion by 2050. Davis tied the region's growth to its share of state money, saying that over the past three years Beaufort and Jasper counties have received more state-funded road and bridge contracts than any other part of South Carolina. His examples included the new Hilton Head bridge and the widening of I-95 and Highways 170 and 278.
WTOC described Exit 3 as a future option for drivers on a busy I-95, "especially during the holiday rush." With the widening scheduled to run until 2030, this year's holiday traffic will pass through the work zone at Exit 8.
Hardeeville's December, on Main Street
The city getting the new interchange has a full December calendar, and none of it requires getting on the interstate. The City of Hardeeville's calendar lists:
- Dec. 1, 6 to 7 p.m. A tree lighting at 205 Main Street with cocoa, cookies, music, story time and Santa.
- Dec. 12, 3 to 4 p.m. The downtown Christmas Parade.
- Dec. 12, 4 to 7 p.m. Merry on Main behind City Hall, with Santa photos, vendors, bounce houses and a petting zoo.
- Dec. 19, noon to 1 p.m. A Wreaths Across America ceremony in front of City Hall.
Questions about how years of construction at Exit 8 and US-278 might affect your plans for a Riverton Pointe home are where local knowledge helps. The Ussery Group follows these projects closely and is glad to talk through what they mean for your timing, privately and without obligation. Request a Confidential Consultation.
