Time for conservation league to make room for I-73

There has been some good news recently about I-73, but, as usual, the Coastal Conservation League has reared its ugly head in opposition. This is not surprising, as the group pretty much opposes everything, so much so that I recently heard the League described as being made up of “progressive obstructionists.”

I-73 would improve the quality of life for the entire area. It would lead to an increase in tourists - the ones who dread the trip to the Grand Strand from I-95. My daughter, who lives in Richmond, recently returned home from Hilton Head Island and advised that the drive time from Hilton Head to Richmond was the same as from Georgetown to Richmond - and Hilton Head is approximately 150 miles farther south, as the crow flies.

I-73 would change that quickly.

Many great companies have set up major operations in other parts of our state, and these areas have one thing in common - interstates. Imagine college graduates from the Strand returning home to employment opportunities in areas other than in the hospitality sector.

Many expanding companies find South Carolina an attractive place to grow, but not in regions without an interstate. Sprucing up country roads will not help in the recruitment of these job creators. Also, it often takes a crisis to force action which has been needed for a long time. Hopefully, it will not take a hurricane and a evacuation disaster to convince everyone that the highway is needed.

It has been reported that tax dollars were given to the Coastal Conservation League to end its opposition to the Boeing facility and the dredging of Charleston Harbor. Let us hope that taxpayer dollars will not have to be used to eliminate opposition by anyone to I-73.

The writer lives in Georgetown.

This story was originally published July 31, 2016 at 10:42 AM with the headline "Time for conservation league to make room for I-73."