State funding paves way for I-73 progress

The reality of an Interstate 73 took another leap forward Thursday when the S.C. Department of Transportation’s highway commission voted to spend $105 million to start construction on the Interstate 95-to-Latta portion of the freeway.

The commission action, celebrated in a press release Friday by the National I-73/74/75 Corridor Association, came in the form of a resolution seeking permission to sell $290 million in state roads. The I-73 piece is the largest part of the request. All of it is subject to review by the Joint Bond Review Committee. More public hearings will be a part of that process.

The centerpiece of the I-73 funding will be the interchange at I-95, dubbed by some pro-73 groups the “Interchange of Hope.” The state money will follow the first part of the funding, which came from an earmark, followed by state infrastructure grant money and, more recently, a $10 million federal TIGER (Transportation Generating Economic Recovery) grant. The TIGER grant is part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.

Supporters of the I-73 project, which will link Myrtle Beach and the Pee with the Midwest all the way to Michigan, were jubilant at the news.

“Approval of the Dillon County interchange is great news and the result of a collaborative group effort,” state Rep. Alan Clemmons, chairman of the National I-73/74/75 Corridor Association, said.

Added Brad Dean, president/executive director of the association and CEO of the Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce, “This is great news for I-73. What it tells us is it’s no longer a matter of if it will be built, but when it will be built. I think we’re certainly a lot closer to having interstate access along the grand strand than ever before.”

Jeff McKay, executive director of the North Eastern Strategic Alliance, an economic recruiter for northeastern South Carolina, said, “It’s a statement. We won’t get this (I-73) done with state money alone. So this lets the federal people know that we’re serious, we’re moving along on this project.”

The interstate, from Myrtle Beach to Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., could take 10 years or more to complete. It would cross six states — Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia and the Carolinas — and cover 80 miles in four South Carolina counties: Dillon, Marlboro, Marion and Horry. The complete I-73 project, which includes road improvement from the North Carolina state line to Horry County, will span 44 miles and is expected to affect 81 homes and 71 businesses.

The project is expected to a huge economic generator. According to an economic impact study conducted by former Coastal Carolina University Research Economist Dr. Donald Schunk, the construction of I-73 in can be expected to create a total of 7,718 jobs, including new construction jobs and jobs generated regionally through economic ripple effects. The study also concludes that over a full construction phase of five years, a total of 38,600 positions would be supported and nearly $1.4 billion in household income would be generated.

The corridor would also open up areas of Marlboro, Dillon and Marion counties — three counties that consistently have some of the highest unemployment rates in the state — to industrial development as well as road construction jobs.

It also would be the first interstate link to Myrtle Beach, the heart of the state’s $16 billion tourism industry. In addition, I-73 is expected to cut hurricane evacuation times from the Grand Strand by 11 to 15 hours.

Funding approval by state officials didn’t come without objections.

SCDOT commissioner Sarah Nuckles voted against the funding package that included the I-95/73 interchange. The State newspaper in Columbia also reported Coastal Conservation League officials objected to funding the project over roads that ranked higher on the state’s transportation priorities list.

Dean was critical of the project’s naysayers.

“I haven’t figured out what Mrs. Nuckles and the opponents don’t like — more jobs, more industry, more tourists or maybe they just don’t want to save lives in the event of a hurricane,” Dean said.

The new road has also been touted as a much more efficient hurricane evacuation route.

“We’re not sure what they don’t like,” Dean said, “because we think all those are worthy goals for I-73.”

NESA, the state General Assembly, the S.C. Congressional Delegation, along with the Obama Administration through the TIGER grant, all aided the success of this latest project by helping to secure funding for the interchange in Dillon County, I-73 proponents said.

“The focus now will be on securing funding in the upcoming (federal) Highway Reauthorization Bill, where one of the most important things will be to make sure that we have a presence in Washington to emphasize our investment in the project and highlight the positive economic impact it would have it terms of attracting business and creating jobs,” Clemmons said.

There are four phases of I-73 that South Carolina is responsible for building. One portion, designated S.C. 22, is already completed and runs from U.S. 501 between Conway and Aynor in an arc to North Myrtle Beach.

Other portions will run from the North Carolina line at Wallace, from I-95 to Latta and from Latta to Galivants Ferry. The Latta-to-Galivants Ferry portion is the only portion without funding.

Dean said the next step in the I-73 process will be to get the construction going, create desperately-needed jobs in the Pee Dee and start working on building the next portion of the interstate.

Once the portion to Latta is complete, a 30-mile gap to Galivants Ferry will remain to complete the link between I-95 and Myrtle Beach, he said.

Before state officials approving the interchange funding, federal highway funding had been a challenge. Now, with the road under construction, getting federal funding should be much easier, Dean said.

“Now that we’ll have progress under way and we’re only talking about how to connect pieces, we’re much better positioned to get more of our tax dollars from the federal government back here, create jobs and build I-73 sooner than later,” he said.

The next step for state officials will be the political equivalent of a full-court press.

“We’ll be leading a large group from the Grand Strand and Pee Dee to go up to Washington in early May; that was already planned,” Dean said. That will be just a part of leaders’ plans to maintain a presence in Washington to lobby for the interstate.