Horry County spent almost $250 million for Ride 3. Here are the project costs and numbers
Since Ride 3 began, Horry County has spent $249,491,712.97 out of the $592 million that the penny tax will collect before it ends in April 2025.
Here’s a breakdown of the numbers, percentages and project costs that make up that almost $250 million number so far, according to the county’s online Ride 3 dashboard.
Paving dirt roads & resurfacing city roads in Horry County
14 road construction projects listed under Ride 3
In total, the Ride 3 dashboard lists 14 projects they’ve defined as “road construction.”
The Oct. 1 update listed two as completed, the Carolina Forest Boulevard Widening and the Palmetto Pointe Boulevard Extension to SC Highway 544.
The Carolina Forest Boulevard Widening project ended up costing $37,506,104.81, which is more than $15 million under the $54.7 million budget, Ride 3 documents from the Oct. 8 Horry County Infrastructure and Regulation Committee meeting said.
For the Palmetto Pointe Boulevard Extension to SC Highway 544, the budgeted cost was $7.5 million, and the actual cost was $3,974,891.14, the Oct. 8 meeting documents said.
Since the U.S. Highway 501 Corridor Improvements has three sub parts to the project, there was no breakdown for how much the Postal Way Extension portion cost in the Oct. 1 update.
Instead, the documents show that the total budgeted amount for all the parts of the U.S. Highway 501 Corridor Improvements was $50 million, and as of Oct. 1, 2024, $27,893,569.73 has been spent.
On the Ride 3 dashboard website, which lists U.S. Highway 501 Corridor Improvements as “completed on schedule,” states that the completed estimated budget for the Postal Way extension is $9 million.
“The dashboard is broken up into two different projects (Mainline: $41 Million & Corridor Improvements $9 Million),” Horry County’s Public Information Office’s Deputy Director Thomas Bell said via email. “Middle Ridge budget was $6.3 Million, the total expenditures to date are $17,637,183.07 (outstanding right of way acquisition). The budget for Postal Way was $2.7 Million. This project still has outstanding right of way and includes the cost of the shared-use path; expenditures to date are $7,210,309.24. However, all construction activities are completed on Middle Ridge Avenue, Postal Way, and the Carolina Forest Shared-Use Path.”
Ten of the projects listed on the Ride 3 dashboard say they are on schedule with the following estimated budgets:
- U.S. Highway 501 widening from SC Highway 31 to SC 544 with an estimated budget of $41 million
- SC Highway 9 East widening (Loris) with an estimated budget of $21.7 million
- U.S. Highway 701 N. widening (North Conway) estimated budget of $65.1 million
- Fred Nash Boulevard connection to Harrelson Boulevard - Myrtle Beach with an estimated budget of $19.3 million
- Forestbrook Road Widening with an estimated budget of $89.1 million
- U.S. Highway 501 realignment from Broadway Street to 7th Avenue North with an estimated budget of $13.9 million
- U.S. Highway 701 widening - North of Loris with an estimated budget of $7.5 million
- Conway Perimeter Road Phase II with an estimated budget of $18.4 million
- Southern Evacuation Lifeline (SELL) - Environmental Studies and Right-of-Way with estimated funding of $25 million
- SC Highway 31 (Carolina Bays Parkway) Extension to SC/NC State Line has estimated funding of $125 million. The online dashboard has an asterisk in the project’s description that states “total cost to complete SC 31 Extension north is estimated at $185M.”
This story was originally published October 24, 2024 at 12:58 PM.
