“What a great victory for Myrtle Beach to receive a $10 million grant to begin work on I-73. This is the result of hard work from our state’s leaders and signals the importance of this project. As your next Congressman, I will continue to fight for funding and the execution of this and other infrastructure that will bring business to our state and boost our economy. From my years of experience working to bring Daimler-Chrysler, Verizon Wireless, Boeing, and many other businesses to Charleston, I understand the importance of having the infrastructure to bring more industry, business, and jobs to our state.” – Tim Scott
Reprinted from TheSunNews.com
A $10 million federal stimulus grant announced Wednesday will kick-start the key Interstate 73 interchange at I-95, a move that supporters say is a major boost to the planned highway.
“This is great news for South Carolina, as we’re now $10 million closer to completing I-73,” said state Rep. Alan Clemmons, R-Myrtle Beach, chairman of the National I-73/74 Corridor Association.
The money will be used to begin work on a segment of the project that is estimated to cost more than $300 million.
The grant “reaffirms the importance of I-73 and provides a sound investment in a very important project,” said Rep. Tracy Edge, R-North Myrtle Beach, who co-chairs the S.C. I-73/74 Corridor Association.
The long-awaited highway would be the first interstate to link to Horry County. Planned to run from near Myrtle Beach to the Canadian border at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., it was designated by Congress in 1991 but without specific funding, leaving most of the building to the six states it traverses.
South Carolina lists I-73 as its top priority for new construction. The state has completed most of its preliminary plans, as has Virginia, and some sections of the road have been built in North Carolina and West Virginia.
South Carolina has received about $100 million in federal money over the years for planning and right-of-way acquisition.
The target of the money announced Wednesday is the interchange or 5-mile segment on each side of I-95. The total costs of the project are estimated at $360 million, and the state Department of Transportation applied for $300 million from the special federal fund.
Mitchell Metts, a DOT engineer who has worked on the I-73 project planning, said he isn’t sure how the $10 million would be applied because it isn’t enough to build the interchange or even the 5-mile section from I-95 to U.S. 501.
Right-of-way plans for that section of the project are finished, Metts said, and the agency has started work to buy the rights of way.
The state DOT commission agreed last summer to seek federal stimulus funds to start construction on I-73 at the I-95 interchange.
Leaders hope to be able to make the connection to U.S. 501 as a quick way to help speed tourism traffic to Horry County.
The commission was to have its regular monthly meeting today, and use of stimulus funds was on the agenda, but Metts said he did not know if the I-73 grant would be discussed. John Walsh, a DOT engineer who was to discuss stimulus funds with the commission, could not be reached for more details.
However, the $10 million carries with it the possibility of more money for I-73.
According to the federal announcement, the state DOT “will have the opportunity to work with the USDOT on an innovative financing approach, which would include a direct loan for the project through the USDOT Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act credit assistance program.”
The entire 60-mile South Carolina portion of the project was estimated at $2 billion, with tolls expected to be used to help pay for it.
U.S. Reps. Henry Brown, R-Hanahan, John Spratt, D-York, and Jim Clyburn, D-Columbia, issued a joint statement saying the grant allows the state to use the $10 million to cover a federal loan of $100 million for the project.
The three represent areas the road will cross and say they met with federal Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in December to discuss the need for federal money for I-73.
Brown said he has worked to make I-73 a reality for his entire congressional career and that the grant is an important step.
“Myrtle Beach is currently the busiest resort destination in the nation without an interstate connection, leaving them with a competitive disadvantage against other destinations,” he said.
Clyburn also called the grant a “great step” toward making the highway a reality and said he was pleased the delegation worked together on it.
Spratt said there is a long way to go to full funding of I-73, but the grant is “a good beginning and will be used to leverage state-issued bonds, which results in each dollar of federal funding providing up to 10 times more in credit assistance.”
Also hailing the grant from the stimulus money was Gary Loftus, an Horry County councilman who served on the state DOT commission in the early days of I-73 planning.
The grant, and the possibility of the loan, “entails a lot of hard work on the part of a lot of people,” Loftus said.
