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.”
This is support that local leaders, like Alan Clemmons, says is important for this project.
“We now see a positive reinforcement from Danny Isaac who’s representing the DOT as our Commissioner, and that the department is linking arms with us and looking forward to receiving funding from the stimulus package from I-73, that’s important,” said Clemmons.
Many local leaders will be heading to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday to ask for funds from the stimulus plan.
http://www.wmbfnews.com/Global/story.asp?S=9736202
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