SC could send cash to Horry for Highway 90. How long until residents see improvements?
For years, growth along Horry County’s S.C. 90 was manageable, residents said.
But then, in 2018, the county opened International Drive which bisected the rural highway and connected it directly to Carolina Forest and Myrtle Beach.
Growth — new residents and new new homes — exploded.
Then, flooding caused by Hurricane Florence cut residents off from S.C. 90, meaning they were stranded in their homes for days.
Residents soon began demanding that county leaders needed to address the growth and make improvements to the farm-to-market highway.
“I never dreamed it would be this big of a mess, never in my wildest dreams,” said Amelia Wood, who lives along S.C. 90 and has worked to organize her neighbors to bring their concerns to county leaders.
Residents complain of frequent traffic jams on the two-lane road and car wrecks happen often. State highway patrol data shows three fatal wrecks on S.C. 90 within the last year. Residents like Wood also worry about flood waters trapping them again.
But to date, no money has been available for S.C. 90 upgrades.
That may be changing.
State lawmakers from Horry County could bring home nearly a $1 million earmarked for S.C. 90, an acknowledgment that upgrading the highway will require state funding.
The $900,000 earmark is merely a drop in the bucket compared to S.C. 90’s needs — $500 million to upgrade the entirety of the 20-mile highway — but state lawmakers said it’s a first step as they seek more funding.
“We are working, we’re hustling, we have some money right now,” said state Rep. Tim McGinnis, who said he plans to vote for the earmarks in the House this week. The earmark was secured in the Senate by Sen. Greg Hembree.
Ahead of the legislative session, McGinnis and Hembree said they would each push for $100 million for S.C. 90.
But state budget writers pushed for a tax rebate program — which could send between $100-$700 back to taxpayers — in lieu of funding other projects. That means S.C. 90, Interstate 73 and other projects are likely to miss out on substantial state funding this year.
McGinnis, though, said he remained hopeful that the legislature would allocate more money to S.C. 90 next year. Horry County is set to gain a seat in the state House due to population growth and redistricting and McGinnis said that means additional leverage to get funding for projects like S.C. 90.
“Hopefully next year when we have an additional voice from Horry County...we’ll be able to get more of that money that we send to Columbia,” he said, referencing the newly-drawn District 61 in the Carolina Forest area.
In the meantime, residents will have to live with stop-gap measures and incremental improvements.
For one, Horry County maintains a partial building moratorium along part of S.C. 90 after resident outcry over the corridor’s rapid growth. That means developers can build according to a property’s current zoning but the county is unlikely to approve any re-zonings, which typically allow for additional homes on a piece of land.
And the South Carolina Department of Transportation has agreed to install a traffic signal at the intersection of S.C. 90 and East Cox Ferry Road, according to County Council member Danny Hardee, who represents part of the corridor.
The Solid Waste Authority, too, has agreed to work with SCDOT on additional traffic signals. That agreement came out of negotiations the authority held with residents in recent months as it seeks to expand its landfill along S.C. 90.
Meanwhile, the Grand Strand Area Transportation Study plans to have an engineering study of S.C. 90 completed by next summer which will detail projects and costs for various upgrades along the corridor, according to Mark Hoeweler, the group’s assistant executive director.
County leaders have said raising and widening the highway near the three swamps it crosses is a top priority.
Highway 90 could have other funding options
With residents and county leaders left waiting for additional state funding for S.C. 90., some leaders want the county re-work its finances to jumpstart work on the highway.
Hardee, for one, said he would like to explore using an annual $4.2 million pot of money the county has set aside for Interstate 73 for S.C. 90, instead. State lawmakers declined to fund I-73 construction this year, and Hardee said he thinks the county should spend its I-73 money on local roads and come up with interstate money later.
“It would definitely make me happy,” Hardee said about diverting I-73 funds to Highway 90. “What I would like to see is getting our roads fixed here and then we’ll worry about what we can do (for I-73).”
That plan has a catch, though. The $4.2 million is roughly one-third of the county’s annual hospitality fee collection, and must be spent on tourism-related projects per state law. S.C. 90 is home to an RV park, and the county could use part of the money on that stretch of road, but not on other parts.
If the county issues a 30-year municipal bond for the $4.2 million, it could raise $126 million, county leaders have said.
The county also has $31 million leftover from past road projects that could go toward S.C. 90, though lawsuit settlements and political negotiations may reduce that sum.
Then there’s the county’s upcoming RIDE IV program. If voters approve a ballot referendum in November 2024, the county will continue collecting a 1% sales tax that will pay for road building and upgrades. Some of that money could go toward S.C. 90. The current RIDE III program is expected to raise around $600 million.
In the meantime, residents are stuck with a highway that they say is congested and dangerous.
For Wood, traffic lights could help calm the traffic issues as officials work on permanent solutions.
But, she said, the state’s earmark isn’t nearly enough. She wants leaders to find the money for real upgrades to the highway.
“My thoughts are, that’s nice,” she said. “A million just doesn’t seem to be a whole lot in the grand scheme of things.”
