US Senator Lindsey Graham in Myrtle Beach Friday morning
/ Billy Huggins
The push is on to get more funding for the Interstate 73 project.
One of its biggest backers in Washington came to Myrtle Beach Friday to start lobbying for one critical part of the highway.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham is making a push to get funding to build an I-73 interchange on Interstate 95. But he won't just be lobbying his colleagues in Congress. He'll also be aiming his message toward state lawmakers in Columbia.
Graham says securing the billions needed to complete I-73 is heavily dependent on finding the millions required to build that one interchange.
"If we could get that $150 million dedicated for the interchange, it would allow me to make a better case to build the interstate," Graham said.
Graham says the SC Department of Transportation has already set aside half that amount, more than $75-million, to buy up right-of-way for the interchange.
He says convincing the state to come up with the rest of it will give the project momentum to get Congress to approve more money. He says his lobbying effort will include a visit to the office of Vice President Joe Biden.
"If you want stimulus, if you're looking for ways to create jobs in America, don't grow the government, build roads and repair bridges," Graham said.
St. Rep. Doug Jennings, a backer of I-73 and member of the North Eastern Strategic Alliance (http://www.nesasc.org/), says construction should start on the interchange within 2 to 3 years.
He says people who own property near the proposed interchange are well aware that I-73 will be built.
"Ordinary citizens are starting to see that it is a reality, because they're getting condemnation notices from the (transportation) department, saying that we need your land to build this new road," Jennings said.
Graham says the interstate, to be built from Michigan to South Carolina, would attract a whole new group of visitors to Myrtle Beach.
"You could double the amount of tourists coming to the Grand Strand if this highway became a reality."
The next big event for I-73 will be a rally in Washington, DC September 30th.
Graham says he wants every congressman from every district along the road to be there, so they will all speak with one voice about I-73.
