Voters will decide on tax increase for $600M to build roads

Horry County voters will decide on Election Day whether to approve a 1-cent sales tax to raise nearly $600 million for major road construction projects across Horry County.

This is the third time locals will vote on the temporary tax, which has funded more than a billion dollars since 1996 to build major highways, interchanges and to maintain existing roads.

If voters approve the Road Improvement and Development Effort, or RIDE III, the tax will be raised for seven years to fund 15 projects, plus pave and resurface 200 miles of road.

The new batch of projects would begin next year, even as several roads under the ongoing effort of RIDE II remain unfinished.

Some delays were caused by objections from environmentalists over construction along Carolina Bays Parkway, which was ultimately tied to construction of S.C. 707. The Coastal Conservation League (CCL) is still challenging construction of International Drive, which is now tied up in the federal court system.

A spokeswoman for CCL says they will not oppose Ride III, although it contains a significant amount of funding to conduct needed studies to eventually begin construction of the Southern Evacuation Lifeline (SELL).

“We are not in favor of that project, but what is included in RIDE III is the environmental impact study, and we have no problem with completing that process to demonstrate the environmental impact that project would have,” said Lisa Turansky, director of programs for CCL.

“If we had our druthers, we wouldn’t want anything in there about SELL, but given the fact some of their projects are good projects, we are not opposing the sales tax,” Turansky said.

Some of the major projects in RIDE III include the widening of U.S. 501 and Carolina Forest Boulevard, extending Palmetto Point Boulevard to S.C. 544 and widening S.C. 9 east of Loris.

RIDE III would also provide $25 million in funding for the SELL study, and construction of S.C. 31 to the North Carolina state line.

The one-percent tax would begin next spring countywide on all retail sales, accommodations, beverages and prepared food in restaurants and in grocery store delis.

A special tax commission has been working to since last year to select which roads would be included, and held a number of community meetings to collect public input.

Eddie Dyer, who chaired the commission, said there is no alternative plan for Horry County to raise the money needed for major scale projects and maintenance. Federal dollars are scarce, and the state only kicked in $10 million for the current fiscal year, Dyer said.

“There’s no plan B for better roads. If we want better roads, this is our shot,” Dyer said.

Using the sales tax to fund roads means that tourists will pay for most of the work, which in addition to helping locals get around the county quicker, boosts economic development and will help diversify the economy, Dyer said.

Several business and tourism leaders banded together to campaign in favor of RIDE III. They say new infrastructure is needed to keep up with the growth of the local population base as well as the number of tourists that visit the Grand Strand.

“These roads are going to be used by the locals, will greatly improve our health and safety, and get us to evacuation routes quicker,” said real estate developer David Singleton. “Emergency and fire response times will be improved, and the funds are not concentrated in any one area, but throughout the county from rural areas to the coast — not concentrated on the east side of the waterway.”

Carolina Forest has added thousands of residents in the last few years, and while leaders there say RIDE III does not solve all of their problems, the widening of Carolina Forest Boulevard is a priority.

“Yes, we support RIDE III, even though RIDE III does not address all of our infrastructure issues,” said Carole vanSickler, president of the Carolina Forest Civic Association.

“Carolina Forest is growing and growing faster than anyone anticipated, and we also need Gardner Lacy extended to International Drive, and River Oaks widened to four lanes,” vanSickler said.

Radha Herring, chairman of the board of directors of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce and a resident of the South Strand, highlighted the recent evacuation prior to Hurricane Matthew. She said RIDE III is a step in the right direction for Horry and Georgetown Counties to provide safe routes out of the beach area in future storms.

Jeri McCumbee, chairwoman of the board of the North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce agreed and said safety is the major concern for their community, especially in an evacuation like they just experienced.

“Our road conditions are terrible,” McCumbee said. “If we don’t do this ourselves, it’s not going to happen. Columbia is not here, Washington is not here, so it’s imperative that we step up to the plate and create our own funding.”

Brad Dean, executive director of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce went a step further, and said that building local roads and ultimately an interstate to connect with the Grand Strand would save lives in the event of a hurricane.

“Thankfully, we had several days to prepare for Hurricane Matthew but just imagine a bigger storm that changes direction or picks up speeds unexpectedly and we don’t have the roads we need to get people out,” Dean said.

Eventually constructing the southern evacuation route will be a tougher sell to the environmentalists at CCL, who say the road will damage wetlands and lead to increased growth and development near the Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge.

“It’s not needed, and when you look at the impact to wetlands and the community, you have to ask, is this something the community really needs? And it’s not,” Turansky said.

Horry County Councilman Johnny Vaught said roads would have been clogged if a stronger storm than Matthew hit during the height of the tourism season.

“We didn’t even have to reverse lanes this time because we just did one zone and we were not at a high occupancy level on the beach,” Vaught said. “It was not a worst-case scenario at all this time. If we had a Hugo where we had to evacuate everybody and reverse lanes, it would have been a mess.”

As for the opposition to International Drive, CCL failed to block it through the state court, and is now asking a federal judge to put a halt to initial construction work until a new lawsuit is decided on the federal level.

“Coastal Conservation League does not oppose roads per say, but if I were a taxpayer in Horry County, I would be angry that what appeared on the original referendum for RIDE II is not what Horry County is trying to build,” Turansky said.

RIDE II called for International Drive to be paved as a two-lane road and would have included bear tunnels, but has since expanded to four lanes without the tunnels.

“It just appears to be more of a road for developers, and what they have decided to compromise is the value to the community and ecology of the region,” Turansky said.

This story was originally published October 31, 2016 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Voters will decide on tax increase for $600M to build roads."