Timeline: 40 years, 7 presidents, $2 billion; I-73 in South Carolina brings complicated history
HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Over its nearly 40-year history, the planned construction of Interstate 73 has taken on near mythical status — spanning seven presidential administrations, countless studies and passionate arguments on both sides.
If it ever gets built, the roughly 80-mile, $2 billion highway would be South Carolina’s sixth interstate, linking the state’s tourism hub directly to the North Carolina border through rural areas of the Pee Dee, running from Rockingham, North Carolina through Marlboro and Dillon counties.
It would then cross Interstate 95 and feed onto Highway 22 in Horry County.
Here’s an overview of I-73, from its earliest days to a newly issued report warning of irreversible environmental damage should it ever be completed.
1982
Ronald Reagan is president when Congress approves an appropriation bill that includes money to study design and construction of a new highway linking Interstate 95 to U.S. Highway 17.
Ashby Ward, who ran the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce from 1974 through 2003, suggested the idea to former U.S. Rep. John Light Napier, a Marlboro County native who knew traffic in the region would only get worse. It would be nearly 10 years before anything happened.
1991
With George H.W. Bush in the White House, Congress identifies I-73 as a “high priority route” from Detroit to Charleston but gives each state flexibility to determine its preferred location.
1994
The state Department of Transportation commissions a consultant to focus on upgrading existing routes, hoping to connect Charleston with North Carolina via a “continuous multi-lane facility.”
1995
Congress greenlights the National Highway System Designation Act, including language making I-73 eligible for federal aid pending approval of design and connectivity standards.
Bill Clinton is president.
1998
Congress makes major changes to I-73 as part of a $3.3 billion infrastructure modernization plan, limiting its construction to the Conway, Myrtle Beach and Georgetown areas. The law also mandates it be built to meet “interstate standards.”
2002
With George W. Bush presiding over the nation, the state Department of Transportation launches another I-73 study, identifying new location alternatives. A $3 million congressional earmark for a consultation on environmental impacts comes a year later.
2004
State transportation officials issue notices of intent for public input from those within I-73’s construction zone. Between the summer of 2004 and the fall of 2007, meetings were held in Aynor, Bennettsville, Conway, Dillon, Myrtle Beach, Mullins and Hamlet, North Carolina.
2008
U.S. Transportation Deputy Secretary Thomas Barrett attends a Myrtle Beach ceremony to celebrate the final approval of the I-73 environmental impact study process.
2009
Now in the Obama era, state transportation leaders in May approve a timeline for construction of I-73 but “only within the available project funding.”
2012
Rights-of-way purchase enters the final stages for a section of I-73 in Dillon County from Centerville Road to the Marion County line.
2017
Then U.S. Tom Rice, R-Myrtle Beach, announces in June that the Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit allowing for construction of I-73 to the Grand Strand — 35 years after Congress mandates its first study. The document details the environmental impacts of a built out highway:
“The I-73 project will include permanent placement of fill materials/structures in a total of 4,643 linear feet of stream and a total of 324.1 acres of other waters, including wetlands. The impacts to wetlands include: 254.28 acres from fill, 48.67 acres from temporary clearing, 16.75 acres from permanent clearing, and 4.4 acres from excavation. These project impacts will occur within 17 separate streams, 139 separate wetlands, and 5 separate ponds/impoundments.”
2021
Gov. Henry McMaster says he’ll ask lawmakers to include $300 million in the state’s budget dedicated toward the completion of I-73, calling the project a “transformative component” in South Carolina’s economic future. Proponents say the finished interstate would create nearly 30,000 jobs and create a new evacuation route during emergencies.
2021-present
City and county councils from across the region have pledged financial support for I-73, echoing MacMaster’s prediction of its success. But those promises hinge on guaranteed funding streams from state and federal sources. Horry County leaders in 2021 rejected a proposal to put up $4.2 million a year for 30 years or $126 million in all toward the construction of I-73 using hospitality fee revenues, saying at the time there wasn’t a clear fiscal path forward.
McMaster stands by Interstate 73, despite keeping funds for project out of new budget
This November, Horry County residents will be asked to approve a fourth round of special sales tax funding to pay for dozens of infrastructure projects over the next 25 years. A RIDE IV committee that finalized the list also recommended a local match of up to half the cost of the construction from Highway 22 to the county line, but not until a state contract has been signed for the finalization of I-73 to I-95. “That’ll prevent us from having a bridge-to-nowhere situation,” Horry County assistant administrator David Gilreath said at a March 20 RIDE IV meeting.
I-73 construction would make Little Pee Dee among most endangered rivers in U.S., report says
On Tuesday, the nonprofit environmental advocacy group American Rivers lists the Little Pee Dee among America’s most five endangered waterways because of the potential loss of habitat and wetlands that I-73 would bring. “We must enact stringent protections to safeguard the Little Pee Dee River from the encroachment of development. Its waters should remain unspoiled, its banks untouched by concrete, and its surrounding habitats preserved for generations to come,” Winyah Rivers Alliance executive director Debra Buffkin said.
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Adam Benson joined the News13 digital team in January 2024. He is a veteran South Carolina reporter with previous stops at the Greenwood Index-Journal, Post & Courier and The Sun News in Myrtle Beach. Adam is a Boston native and University of Utah graduate. Follow Adam on X, formerly Twitter, at @AdamNewshound12. See more of his work here.
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