"I approve a special sales and use tax in the amount of one percent (1%) to be imposed in Beaufort County for not more than nine (9) years, or until a total of $780,000,000 in resulting revenue has been collected, whichever occurs first, to fund the following projects."
That is the opening of Question 1 on the November 3 ballot, as written in Beaufort County Ordinance 2026/30. The project list after it covers the whole county, from a peanut roundabout on Lady's Island to Sea Pines Circle. For anyone who comes and goes through Oldfield, though, several of the largest items sit within a few miles of one traffic signal. That signal is where SC 170, E. Argent Boulevard and Oldfield Way meet.
Since early 2024, the county has improved that stretch in small steps. The referendum would replace those steps with a full rebuild. Whatever voters decide, the answer settles whether the road outside the gate is close to finished or only partway there.
The Light at Oldfield Way
Oldfield's own directions have long put the entrance on SC 170, four miles north of Highway 278. Over the last few years, that four-mile drive has been reshaped piece by piece:
- March 2024. Beaufort County finished work on the SC 170 and Argent intersection and on the SC 170 and SC 462 intersection as part of the SC 170 Near Term Project. The work included new asphalt, new striping and a new intersection alignment. Signals were retimed, and the left-turn signal from northbound SC 170 onto Argent was switched back on.
- November 2024. A county speed study ran from Argent to SC 462. Based on it, the limit dropped from 55 mph to 45 mph, effective November 15, after SCDOT approved the change. The county's notice said the new signal at SC 170, E. Argent and Oldfield Way was already in place.
- December 2024. The county changed the signal timing at SC 170 and E. Argent to make room for a new turn lane.
The December notice is mostly about signal timing, and its title says the changes were made to accommodate a new turn lane. None of these steps widened SC 170 past its four through lanes. They changed the speed, the signals and the turns, which is the kind of work a county can do without a major funding source. The penny tax proposal goes further and widens the road itself.
What the Ballot Would Build Between US 278 and SC 462
The proposal sorts its $780 million into three groups. About $326 million is for intersections and safety, $205 million is for widening, and $249 million is for resurfacing and paving dirt roads. The SC 170 widening alone is $103.84 million, about half of the widening total. Oldfield's entrance falls inside its limits. These are the items closest to the gate, as the county's referendum project list describes them:
| Project | Allocation | What the county describes |
|---|---|---|
| SC 170 widening, US 278 to SC 462 | $103,840,000 | Four lanes to six, a series of signalized reduced-conflict intersections with U-turn lanes at intervals and bulb-outs, and a shared-use path on the west side |
| SC 170/US 278 diverging diamond interchange | $18,054,000 | A diverging diamond built under the existing US 278, with dual left turns from SC 170 onto eastbound 278 and a westbound slip lane onto northbound SC 170 that continues to Commerce Place |
| SC 462 realignment | $19,760,000 | SC 462 moved east, from the BJWSA canal to SC 170, so the intersection is no longer on a curve, plus a new roundabout where it meets SC 46 |
| US 278 widening, SC 170 to the county line | $51,984,000 | Four lanes to six, adaptive signal timing, closed median cuts and improved lighting |
These four projects cover nearly every route out of Oldfield. Heading north, the drive passes the SC 462 junction, which the county's own descriptions place north of the Argent and Oldfield signal. Heading south, it reaches the 278 interchange. From there, the westbound route toward Hardeeville and I-95 runs along the stretch the Island Packet calls the key link between Bluffton, Okatie, Hardeeville and the interstate. The same article describes SC 170 between 462 and 278 as a main road for local workers and residents that carries tens of thousands of vehicles a day.
Resurfacing is listed separately. It includes $42.073 million for SC 170 segments, including the stretch from US 278 to the SC 46 roundabout, and $27.096 million for US 278 from SC 170 to the Hilton Head Island bridge.
What a Reduced-Conflict Intersection Could Mean at the Signal
The widening description calls for "a series" of signalized reduced-conflict intersections but does not say where they would go. It does not say whether the Argent and Oldfield signal would become one. It gives no length for the project and no count of intersections.
Another item on the same list shows how the county describes this design in detail. The Evans Way project, at $7.878 million, is a signalized reduced-conflict intersection with unsignalized U-turn lanes for northbound and southbound traffic on SC 170. The side roads would be redesigned for dual right turns onto SC 170. Evans Way meets SC 170 at Four Seasons Boulevard near New Riverside, roughly seven miles south of Oldfield, so it is a separate project. It still shows what the term means in the county's own plans. Whether a similar layout would come to the gate is something the published list leaves open.
There is also a separate planning effort. The Lowcountry Council of Governments has been running an SC 170 Corridor Study covering roughly 24 miles of the road. Its page still links draft recommendations and a draft concept. Its schedule lists a final report for summer 2026, but no final report is posted on the page. The study does not pay for construction.
The Money and the Calendar
If voters approve it, the tax would start May 1, 2027. It would end by April 30, 2036, or sooner if it collects the full amount. The county's FAQ mentions a 2034 sunset, but the adopted ordinance carries the 2036 date. The 1% would apply to most retail purchases. Medication, gas, rent and mortgage payments, utilities and unprepared groceries are excluded.
Question 2 is about speed. It would let the county issue up to $450 million in general obligation bonds, repaid from the sales tax, so projects could start before the revenue builds up. Assistant County Administrator Jared Fralix told the Island Packet that the bonds are not an additional tax. He said that even with interest, finishing projects sooner can save money by cutting inflation costs. As of October 2, the county had not said which projects bonds would speed up. It had also not estimated interest or issuance costs. Project scopes and costs may change during implementation, and any change to the approved list goes through state law and County Council.
That leaves the SC 170 widening without a published start date or completion date. The county has run penny tax programs before. Voters approved $120 million in 2018, and eight years later, several of those 24 projects are still unfinished. A $950 million proposal in 2024 failed, and the Island Packet linked that result partly to frustration with the pace of earlier projects. According to Fralix, none of the unfinished 2018 projects are on the 2026 list, while projects from the rejected 2024 proposal are.
The club inside the gate offers a useful comparison for what a published timeline looks like. Oldfield's $1.1 million bunker renovation on the Greg Norman course started May 19 and finished August 7. It ran in three phases of about three weeks each so members could keep playing, and the course reopened with a member event on August 22. The River Club and Golf Clubhouse are still under renovation as part of a roughly $8 million reinvestment, with no completion date announced.
Dates Before November 3
- October 8, 5 p.m. A joint public hearing of County Council and the Board of Voter Registration and Elections, in Council Chambers at 100 Ribaut Road, Beaufort.
- October 19 through October 31. Early voting, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Sites are closed Sundays and legal holidays.
- Closest early voting site. The county's Bluffton location is the Bluffton Branch Library at 120 Palmetto Way. Hours and other sites are on the county's early voting page.
- November 3. Election Day. The penny tax questions share the ballot with local, state and federal races.
The county's Bluffton referendum information session was held September 10 at the Bluffton Branch Library. No October session has been posted in Bluffton or Okatie. For the full project list, including items on Hilton Head Island and north of the Broad, the county's dashboard is linked from the Island Packet's explainer on the referendum.
If you're thinking about how the SC 170 plans might affect your plans for an Oldfield home, I'm glad to talk it through with you. We can look at what's already in place at the gate and what is still unscheduled. At Carolyn Kraus, I like to keep these conversations clear, calm and specific to the road you drive every day. Let's Connect.
