Feb. 28 Last Day to Purchase New Palmetto Pass Accounts

The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) will stop collecting tolls on Hilton Head Island’s Cross Island Parkway at 11:59 p.m. on June 30, 2021.

The agency is now preparing to convert the corridor to a non-tolled road, including ceasing the sale of new Palmetto Pass accounts on February 28, 2021. Palmetto Pass customers pay their toll charges with a pre-paid balance instead of stopping at the toll booths on the Parkway to pay in cash.

“The Cross Island Parkway has been serving Hilton Head residents, visitors, and businesses as an important alternate travel route for more than 20 years, and we’re pleased to convert it to a non-tolled roadway permanently,” said Justin Powell, SCDOT Deputy Secretary of Finance and Administration.

Opened in 1998, The Cross Island Parkway is a 7.5 mile, limited access route that connects the William Hilton Parkway (Business US 278) at the north end of the Island with Palmetto Bay Road and the Sea Pines Circle at the south end of the island. The toll is now $1.25 per cash customer and $.75 per Palmetto Pass customer based on a two-axle vehicle. It is collected to repay bonds that were issued to build the road, pay for toll collection operations, and maintain the roadway and facilities. SCDOT will continue maintaining the Parkway as a part of its statewide road system after the toll is discontinued.

“Since the toll will have completed its purpose of supporting the Parkway’s financing, we will be discontinuing it as required by state law. We are preparing to close out related Palmetto Pass accounts and prepare for construction work to remove the toll facilities on the corridor,” Powell said.

SCDOT and its contractor who operates the toll, Conduent Transportation, will be communicating with the more than 32,000 Palmetto Pass customers during the coming months on procedures to close their accounts, return their transponders, and how they might receive refunds of their deposits. Conduent has begun contacting these customers by mail, email, public and media information, and the Palmetto Pass website, www.crossislandparkway.org.

Answers to frequently asked questions about Palmetto Pass accounts can be found on the website at www.crossislandparkway.org/scvector/static/faq/Discontinuing.shtml. The public may also call the Palmetto Pass customer service center at 843-342-6718.

Improving the Cross Island Parkway is consistent with SCDOT’s 10-Year Plan to improve the quality of the state’s roads and bridges. SCDOT is in year four of the 10-Year Plan and ahead of schedule in repaving and resurfacing roads, making rural roads safer, repairing or replacing aging bridges, and improving key portions of our interstates.