Dozens filled the Sandy Grove Missionary Baptist Church Sunday night.
/ Lindsey Theis
More than 40 people attended a community interest meeting Sunday night at Sandy Grove Missionary Baptist Church off Carver Street in Myrtle Beach. The new group called I-73 for S.C. is made up of committee members that include local activists, pastors, councilmen, and representatives from the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.
"I think Horry County could be the linchpin if we get I-73 here," said Myrtle Beach City Councilman Mike Chestnut who is on the committee.
Among the speakers at the meeting, President of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, Brad Dean. Dean says it's been publicized often that there is a need for I-73 in the state, but this meeting was to go into even greater detail with those in the community.
The biggest roadblock, Dean told the group, is state government blocking funding. President Barack Obama authorized 50 out of 1,500 grants, one of those was the I-73 construction, Dean said. He added the roadblock is in Columbia. Dean says lawmakers would rather move forward on land purchase projects instead of building I-73.
Another factor has been enviornmental concern.
"It's all about jobs," Chestnut said. "I'm not worried about the woodpeckers; I'm worried about putting food on my table."
Past studies have show that more than 22,000 jobs would be created from the Interstate. An independent economist also conducted a study in May and found I-73 would bring 22,347 jobs to Horry, Marion, Dillon, and Marlboro counties after the construction is done. Construction of the corridor will bring an additional 7,720 jobs over a five year period as well. Those jobs would primarily be in the rural areas of the counties.
I-73 has been discussed in South Carolina since the 1980's, but funding has never been available to build it. The South Carolina Department of Transportation applied for a $300 million grant in 2009, but only got $10 million. In November, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told SCDOT the state will get an additional $10 million. The money will be used for improvements on Highway 501 and 301 that will tie into I-73 when the proposed interstate is constructed. The grant money comes is a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant.
A proposed route for the interstate would start in Michigan, pass through Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina near Highway 52. The interstate would then intersect with I-95, head toward Myrtle Beach and connect with Highway 501 before merging with Highway 22, the Conway Bypass. Highway 22 would actually become I-73.
"Only four other cities have grown faster than Myrtle Beach. You guys are by far, the biggest, fastest state in the country without an interstate running through it," panelist Jeff Davis with Transportation Weekly said at the meeting.
Those cities, Davis says, are Las Vegas, Raleigh, Fort Myers,and Austin.
The groups' goals include getting the public to lobby their representatives on the state and local level to give the green light to construction. For more information on upcoming I-73 for SC events, click here.
