RIDE III panel planning for additional $30 million for road projects

An additional $30 million might be available for Horry County road projects in the pending RIDE III proposal – a prospect the special tax commission panel will explore before finalizing the proposed construction list taxpayers will vote on this year.

The panel is eyeing construction work on the southern extension of S.C. 31 where leftover funds plus additional money from the state’s Transportation Infrastructure Bank could make up the shortfall to build 5 miles of S.C. 31 to the North Carolina border. The total cost for construction on the northern tip is estimated at $120 million.

If the Horry County Council approves a request that panel chairman Eddie Dyer plans to make at next week’s meeting to pledge that leftover funding to RIDE III, it will add an additional $30 million to the pot – money that was quickly spent in construction pledges.

Board member Danny Brown Jr. secured support from the panel during the tax commission’s meeting Thursday to help fund $8 million for construction on U.S. 17 Business to add dual turning lanes into Barefoot Landing between 46th Avenue South and 48th Avenue South.

“The primary purpose is during shows, that left-hand turn lane is backed up all the way in front of Myrtle Beach Mall,” Brown said. “So, if they could make it two turning lanes, it would expedite the flow so it doesn’t back up all the traffic on 17.”

The board also committed to $6 million for Nixon Crossroads, which Brown described as highly congested and with a high traffic count, and funding to widen Cultra Road to four lanes in Conway.

One project contending for the final list if the county agrees to the additional $30 million is the widening of Kings Road to three lanes between Lake Arrowhead Road and Chestnut Road to prevent summer traffic jams, which is estimated to cost more than $19 million.

Other projects could be extending Fred Nash Boulevard to allow access to the Coastal Grand Mall, which could get an estimated $19 million in funding, and a $7.5 million widening project for U.S. 701 in Loris towards S.C. 9.

Dyer said commissioners will have to decide at their Feb. 18 meeting which of those three projects would get any additional funding, as the total price tag for all three is well above $30 million.

The RIDE III Sales Tax Commission has already signed off on 13 projects that will go to voters in the fall to approve a 1 percent sales tax increase to generate nearly $600 million for the road work.

Commissioners on Thursday also pledged to hold a half-dozen public hearings throughout Horry County before the May 17 deadline to finalize the project list.

This story was originally published January 14, 2016 at 7:37 PM with the headline "RIDE III panel planning for additional $30 million for road projects."