Tag: road improvements

The RIDE IV Ballot Question – Do You Want Road Improvements or Not?

The decision by voters on Tuesday on whether to approve the RIDE IV referendum for road improvements in Horry County may be the most important decision they make on the general election ballot.
Unlike the politicians for whom they decide to cast a ballot, politicians who will pass with time, the roads, which will be built if the referendum is approved, will serve not only the present generation of voters but also future generations. Or Not!
Horry County Council chose to ask voters to approve a 25-year, one-cent sales tax to raise approximately $6.6 billion for road improvements and additions. It is currently estimated that Horry County is deficient to the tune of approximately $4.5 billion in road improvements needed to service today’s needs and population. Approval of the 25-year referendum will allow the county to issue bonds, funded by future revenues, to speed up construction of needed improvements. Former RIDE projects were funded on a pay as you go basis.
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Hospitality Fee Alternatives to I-73 Agreement

When Horry County Council debates signing a funding agreement with SCDOT for I-73 tomorrow, there are several alternatives that should be considered before a decision is made.

As Grand Strand Daily stated in a previous article, all of the hype for I-73 is located only in Horry County. It is a given that any money designated for the project will come from Horry County only for at least the next several years.

In early calendar year 2019, the county will begin to collect Hospitality Fee revenue in excess of that needed to pay off the bonds that funded Ride I. The proposal before council is to designate approximately $25 million of that money to I-73 with SCDOT generally in control of how that money is spent.

Rather than purchasing rights of way and doing engineering design for a brand new road that may never be built beyond the borders of Horry County, why not look at using that $25 million per year toward road projects that could benefit Horry County citizens immediately upon their completion and certainly meet the standard of being tourism related?

One project that quickly comes to mind for study is raising the road bed of SC 22 between Hwy 905 and Hwy 90 to eliminate the flooding of that road that occurred during Hurricane Florence. One could even say this improvement will benefit I-73 if that road ever becomes a reality.

Two other projects that would immediately benefit both local citizens and tourists would be raising the road bed of SC 9 around Aberdeen to prevent flooding closure of the road such as has been experienced at least four times since 1999 and improvements to U.S. 501 in the Lake Busbee area to help prevent the issues Hurricane Florence and previous storms caused on that road.

Considering the designation of the excess Hospitality Fee revenue to any or all of the above three projects would have immediate benefit to citizens rather than wasting the money on purchasing rights of way and beginning engineering design of a road that may never be built.

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