‘Absolutely ridiculous.’ Port Royal sidewalk funds OK’d 6 years ago. Work hasn’t started

The Town of Port Royal wants to build what it describes as a tiny stretch of sidewalk along a dangerous stretch of Ribaut and Old Shell roads in front of Naval Hospital Beaufort, but the work remains unfinished six years after funding was approved.

Meanwhile, during the delay, the estimated cost of building the 1,200 feet of sidewalk has almost doubled to nearly $400,000.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous,” said Port Royal Town Manager Van Willis, “it has taken this long to put in this itty-bitty bit of sidewalk.”

Officials with the town and South Carolina Department of Transportation, which is handling the engineering, said they are awaiting OKs from the U.S. Navy, which is considering issues involving right-of-way and its security fence.

Willis, who said he’s “beyond frustrated,” blames bureaucracy within the U.S. Navy for the lack of progress.

The Navy said the issue isn’t as simple as it may seem because it involves moving a security fence and altering the boundary of the installation in order for the work to proceed.

“Contracting the footprint of the installation and ensuring the new fence-line does not impact operations or deter the Navy’s mission while allowing for appropriate setback and sidewalk installation has been a time consuming task,” Nate Leffingwell, a realty specialist with Navy Facilities Engineering Systems Command in Jacksonville, said in a statement. “Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Southeast has been working closely with SCDOT to ensure the project is completed to all parties’ satisfaction.”

Willis isn’t buying it. He noted that the fence was moved when a truck safety gate was installed next to the hospital. And the town, he added, has agreed to pay for temporary fencing during the sidewalk construction.

“We are not recreating the wheel here,” Willis said.

Although funding may have been approved in 2016, the project was not approved by the Navy until 2020, Leffingwell noted. And anti-terrorism, force protection, easement and environmental issues, which slowed progress, had to be worked through.

Naval Hospital Beaufort, located at 1 Pinckney Blvd. in Port Royal, provides medical services to active-duty Navy and Marine Corps personnel at U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island and Air Station Beaufort as well as retired military personnel and and their military dependents in the area. A security fence surrounds the 127-acre perimeter.

The new sidewalk will be located between that fence and Ribaut and Old Shell roads and connect existing sidewalks at both ends, giving residents a continuous paved surface to walk on. It’s in a key location: Residents use the path to reach the Naval Heritage Park, where a popular skateboarding facility is located.

It’s also the way people take to get to the bridge for walks crossing the Beaufort River to Lady’s Island. Willis said he’s seen mothers pushing babies in strollers across the uneven terrain as vehicles whiz past.

“This would give people in downtown Port Royal,” Willis said, “a truly safe way to walk across the bridge or get to Naval Heritage Park.”

In 2016, the SCDOT awarded a $397,000 grant for two Port Royal sidewalk projects through its “Alternatives Program,” which provides federal money for non-motorized transportation accommodations if local jurisdictions chip in a 20% match in funding.

The estimated cost of each project was around $200,000.

The sidewalk along Waddell Road was finished in 2020.

More than halfway through 2022, work on the 400 yards of sidewalk near the Naval Hospital has yet to begin, and the estimated cost of the sidewalk has increased to $385,000.

Megan Groves, the assistant program manager for SCDOT’s Lowcountry Regional Production Group, said an additional grant of $313,549, OK’d in 2020, should be able to cover the growing cost of the sidewalk project near the Naval Hospital.

“However,” Groves said, “we will not know for sure until the construction bids are received for the project.”

Willis regularly updates Town Council members about the sidewalk project during meetings. Last week, his update was the same: No progress.

“It’s a thorn,” Mayor Joe DeVito said, “in all of our sides.”

Leffingwell told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette on Thursday that the core issues have recently been resolved, and the Navy’s review process will be done in three months, allowing the proposed sidewalk project to finally be completed.

Projects that utilize federal funds, said Groves of the SCDOT, generally take longer to get done.

But the Port Royal sidewalk project is unique, she added, in that it involves a federal land transfer, which can significantly delay a project.

A portion of the sidewalk being installed along Old Shell Road is currently a 50-year expired easement that is on the Naval Hospital property, Groves said. As a result, the Navy has been working on conveying the expired easement to the Town of Port Royal.

Another complication, Groves said, is that the Navy’s security fence around the hospital needs to be reset in order to build the sidewalk.

“It has been a lengthy process,” Groves said, “however they have recently been through reviews and are working on the necessary documents to convey the land.”

After the Navy signs off, construction could take another 6-12 months, Groves said, depending on availability of materials for the security fence.

With the Navy’s OK another 3 months away, that put’s the likely construction start sometime in 2023.

Over the past six years since the project first received funding, Willis said, several commanders of the Naval Hospital have come and gone. And one official who had worked directly on the project for the Navy retired.

Each month, Willis sends out an email asking for the latest on what’s become known as the Naval Hospital sidewalk. At various times in the process, Willis said, it has seemed as if the project was either in “File 13” — a euphemism for trash can — “or some sort of perpetual bureaucratic spin.”

“Literally,” said Willis, “we’ve been trying to build this thing for more than six years.”