Interstate 73 was identified as a high priority route from Michigan to South Carolina in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Equity Act (ISTEA) that the US Congress passed in 1991. The study area for I-73 in South Carolina followed the Great Pee Dee River to US 378 west of Conway, traveled along US 378 to US 501 and followed US 501 to the coast. It then proceeded up the coast to the North Carolina state line.

Image courtesty of the South Carolina DOT

In May 2009 the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) Commission voted to focus efforts on I-73 to identify sufficient funding for the segment of I-73 between I-95 and US 501 in Dillon County. The intent is to construct a portion of I-73 in this area.

Currently, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) permit for impacts to wetlands, streams, and other jurisdictional waters is being prepared for the I-73 project. The permit application is in its final stages of preparation. SCDOT is working with the USACE to develop this major permit application. This permit will include potential construction impacts and a plan for providing mitigation for the unavoidable wetland and stream impacts associated with I-73.

In addition to preparing the permit for impacts to wetlands, SCDOT is also working on acquiring the necessary property needed to construct segments A1 and A2 of I-73 South. Segment A1 will extend from S-38 (Centerville Road) to Waterside Drive, and Segment A2 will extend from Waterside Drive to the Dillon County Line.

Because this project serves a public use and purpose, the SCDOT will have the authority to use eminent domain if negotiations can not be reached.  Property owners who are affected by this project should be aware of their rights under South Carolina eminent domain law. Property owners are entitled to receive just compensation for their loss. Also, South Carolina law mandates that attorney’s fees and costs be paid for by the government if the final award as determined by the court is closer to the landowners valuation than the government’s valuation. Learn more about South Carolina eminent domain law.

The ROW plans for segments A1 and A2 are following. These maps identify which property owners affected by the project in these 2 segments.  These files are large, so they will take considerable time to open.

ROW Plans I-73 South Segment A-1
ROW plans for I-73 South Segment A-2

Biersdorf & Associates Project # 4747.001

Condemning Authority:  South Carolina Department of Transportation

The Fort Mills Southern Bypass project is a roadway construction project that will create a new two-lane alternate bypass to help eastern and western moving traffic in York County, and also eliminate funneled traffic in the downtown area.

The project will start at Fort Mill Parkway near the intersection of Brickyard Road and Banks Street, and will extend to Springfield Parkway (Fort Mills Northern Bypass) near the intersection of Highway 160.

The project is nearly 4 miles long and the estimated cost for the project is nearly $53 million.

Click here and here to view maps for the project.

If you have additional questions, or think you may be affected by the project, call us toll-free at 866.339.7242

Biersdorf & Associates Project # 4745.001

Condemning Authority: South Carolina Department of Transportation

The SC Department of Transportation is moving forward with plans for the new interchange where the Highway 17 Bypass and Highway 707 intersect. 

Right now the DOT is still in the process of acquiring right of way for the project, however by this fall construction crews will have trees and utilities lines removed in preparation for the project. Construction is anticipated to begin next summer and be completed by 2013.

To read more about this story, click here for the full article.

Call us at 866.339.7242 if you have any questions or concerns, or if you think you may be affected by this. 

May 5, 2009 

The SC/DOT is planning on changing the US 17 Bypass and SC 707/Farrow Parkway Interchange.

The project will eliminate traffic signals and provide US 17 Bypass uninterrupted movement. It’s fully funded through the “riding on a penny” program, a Horry County sales tax program created to help fund various transportation projects.

Right-of-way is expected to begin this summer, with construction scheduled to start in the summer of 2010. 

For more information on this project, call us at 866.339.7242.

Click the link to see a map of the project.

Map

Biersdorf & Associates Project # – 4718.001

Condemning Authority – State of South Carolina

The North Eastern Strategic Alliance approved the use of $64 million in stimulus funds for the I-73 corridor project.

The six-mile stretch from I-95 to US 501 in Dillon County will be the first phase of the project that is expected to take 10 years to be completed.

The federal money will allow the right-of-way acquisition process to be completed.

April 8, 2009

The South Carolina State House passed a bill last Thursday that will allow I-73 to cross over conservation lands.

The bill amends the federal law that conservation lands not be developed and states that conservation lands can be used for county, state or federal public infrastructure. It also allows the I-73 new alignment project, which has been the works for years, to go through Little Pee Dee Heritage Preserve.

In another effort to propel the project forward, Rep. Allan Clemmons filed a resolution on the same day urging the federal DOT to set funds aside for right-of-way and construction of a 12-mile stretch of I-73 between SC 34 and US 501.

February 17, 2009 

The following information was provided by the South Carolina Department of Transportation website.

http://www.i73insc.com/default.shtml

The Intermodal Surface Transportation Equity Act (ISTEA) identified Interstate 73 as a high priority route. As a result I-73 will be going under some new alignments across both North Carolina and South Carolina. The Northern Project consists of running through I-73/74 in the Rockingham/Hamlet region in North Carolina. It continues into South Carolina through Marlboro County and Dillon County to I-95. From I-95 it goes through State Road 22 into the Myrtle Beach/Conway Area.

You do not have to accept the offer made to you if you feel that it does not represent your properties highest and best use value.  If you have received an appraisal or offer and would like us to review it at no cost or obligation, or if you would like additional information on the project and your rights, please contact us at 866.339.7242.

Posted on Fri, Jan. 30, 2009

I-73 gas tax on table

4 counties, including Horry, would bear added 3 percent burden for road’s funding

By Jason M. Rodriguez
jrodriguez@thesunnews.com

Motorists in the four S.C. counties crossed by Interstate 73 would pay a 3 percent gasoline tax to fund the road, under legislation proposed Thursday.

Rep. Alan Clemmons, R-Myrtle Beach, proposed the bill at an I-73 committee meeting in Columbia. The plan would tax gas sold in Horry, Marlboro, Dillon and Marion counties to raise local funds to help build the $2.4 billion S.C. piece of the interstate that would run from Michigan to Myrtle Beach.

Legislators from those areas plan to bring the proposal back to their respective county councils for feedback. They hadn’t had a chance to review it on Thursday, but the chairwoman of the Horry County Council said the whole state should share the burden of the tax because the whole state will benefit from the additional tourism revenue from the highway’s travelers.

The proposal comes a day after U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham called for state funds to match federal funds in the project that supporters say is critical for the continued growth of area tourism, which in the past has provided 37 percent of the state’s accommodations tax revenue and 32 percent of admissions tax revenue.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed an economic stimulus package Wednesday that could provide funding for projects such as I-73. Under the current proposal, South Carolina would receive $480 million for roads.

In that bill, the definition of eligible “shovel-ready” projects changed again. Half of the state’s money allocated for roads would be designated for projects that were ready to begin construction within 90 days of the bill being passed. The other half of the money would be used for projects that will be ready by Aug. 1, 2010. The U.S. Senate is scheduled to debate the bill next week.

Members of North Eastern Strategic Alliance, the I-73 committee, voted Thursday to endorse starting the I-73 project with the stretch from U.S. 501 to Interstate 95 and through to S.C. 34.

Buck Limehouse, secretary for the S.C. Department of Transportation, said he had not been able to review the proposed bill, but said innovative ways to find funding have been how regions have gotten road projects done.

“We got to where we got in Horry County and other areas because of innovative ways,” he said.

Clemmons said the four counties would have to create an authority among themselves and that the multicounty tax, outside of statewide taxes, had not been done to his knowledge in recent years.

“We have to be innovative,” he said. “It sends a message to Congress that we are serious about I-73 … and we will pay our portion for the project.”

The proposed law states the district can either have county councils vote to approve it or offer it as a voter referendum.

“In my mind, the preferable method would be for the four county councils to pass this,” Clemmons said.

Horry County Council Chair woman Liz Gilland said she would not support the tax, noting it was unfair that Horry County taxpayers should be asked to foot more of the bill for I-73 when the county has already constructed S.C. 22, which is supposed to be part of the new highway.

A more equitable solution, she said, would be to put a 1 percent gas tax on the entire state. Horry County’s tourism economy is a major contributor to state coffers, so any road that will bring tourists to the Grand Strand benefits the whole state.

“That’s one of the stupidest recommendations that Alan has ever made,” Gilland said. “We don’t need to carry the bulk of the expense for an interstate that will bring millions upon millions of extra dollars to the state because of the tourists that it will bring.”

James Roberts, a Myrtle Beach resident, said he does not have a problem with adding a tax on gas to help build I-73.

“We really need it,” Roberts said. “In Horry County, the industry is tourism. If we want to continue our tourism industry, we need it to be easily accessible. It takes you about 90 minutes in either direction to get here off [Interstate] 95. The 3 percent increase would still be lower than North Carolina,” Roberts said.

But Horry County residents and visitors should not bear the burden alone, he said.

His sentiments were shared by George Redman of Surfside Beach.

“I think that tourism is one of the things South Carolina does well, and all of South Carolina ought to recognize the benefits of I-73 and help to pay for it,” Redman said. “It should apply to all of the counties in the state.”

Myrtle Beach resident Tammy Simmons offered an alternative to a gas tax.

“I have to wonder if they have considered a toll road, so tourists can help pay for it,” she said.

Tolls are one of the options being considered to help pay for the interstate.

North Carolina has completed or is building parts of I-73 and I-74. West Virginia has built a small section of I-73, and Virginia recently approved plans for a major section of the road.

“I think it’s needed,” said James Brittingham, a part-time Myrtle Beach resident. “For one thing, it will encourage tourism.”

Mitchell Metts, Pee Dee Regional production engineer, said about 100 staff members, surveyors and technicians included are working on the I-73 project. Acquiring rights of way is scheduled to be completed by late summer, he said. Workers are preparing permits for the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which, Metts said, can take between 12 and 18 months.

“The critical component to making I-73 shovel-ready are the permits,” Metts said.

Also this week, Sen. Luke Rankin, R-District 33, introduced a bill that would make the Joint Transportation Review Committee responsible for screening and nominating candidates for S.C. secretary of transportation, the position Limehouse now holds.

Senate Bill 339, co-sponsored by Sen. Hugh Leatherman, R-District 31; Sen. John Land, D-District 36; Sen. Gerald Malloy, D-District 29; and Sen. Dick Elliott, D-District 28, says the transportation secretary’s position should not be accountable to only the governor, as it is now.

Rankin said Thursday night that the recent discussions of the proposed Interstate 73 underscore the need for accountability.

Even though the proposed highway is the state’s only project that has been twice designated by Congress as one of regional and national significance, Rankin said, it was not included on the state’s list of projects to qualify for federal money under the new stimulus plan just passed by the House on Wednesday.

Gov. Mark Sanford “has not expressed any support for I-73, and the person he picked as transportation secretary is looking to be the conduit for millions of federal dollars,” Rankin said. “This isn’t an indictment of Buck Limehouse, but he’s doing the bidding of only one person.”

Jack Victory, a lobbyist for I-73 and senior vice president of Capitol Hill Consulting Group, said S.C. 22 and S.C. 31 have been good examples of how quickly the area can get road projects done.

He said there is some speculation that Sanford may reject the federal stimulus money, but he reminded the committee that taxpayers will end up paying into the stimulus and not reap any benefit.

Joel Sawyer, spokesman for the governor, said after the meeting that the governor opposes the stimulus package but has not said he will reject the money.

Staff writers Lorena Anderson, Mike Cherney and Aliana Ramos contributed to this report.

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/local/story/764223.html 

-END-

Hopes rise for I-73 funding

Posted:
Jan 26, 2009 06:07 PM CSTUpdated:
Jan 26, 2009 07:42 PM CSTBy Laura ThomasHORRY COUNTY, SC (WMBF) - Officials with the South Carolina Department of Transportation said at a news conference Monday morning they are optimistic the Interstate 73 project is eligible for money from President Obama’s proposed stimulus project.The route will link SC Highway 22 in Conway to Interstate 95.SCDOT and other area leaders have been trying to determine whether I-73 meets the federal criterion of being “shovel ready.”On Monday, DOT Commissioner Danny Isaac gave his support for the funding.“Nobody has told us out of Washington exactly what shovel-ready is,” he commented. “They thought we were going to have to have these projects ready in 90 days. Now that we’ve learned we can do it by August 2010, that gives us room to fast track some of our planning.”

SCDOT are seeking public input to decide what steps to take in the I-526 extension.

SCDOT officials have outlined six possible alternatives for locating the Mark Clark Expressway around the West side of Charleston. A seventh alternative would be to not build it at all.

To decide which of the alternatives to opt with, three public hearings are being held. The next meeting will happen this Thursday, May 7 at James Island High School, 1000 Fort Johnson Rd. Charleston, SC 29412, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.