$14.6M OK'd for parkway
Panel also resolves to support I-73 project
Spending nearly $14.6 million in federal stimulus funds for completion of the Berlin G. Myers Parkway in Summerville was approved Monday by the Charleston Area Transportation Study Policy Committee.
The Post and Courier
Also, the committee approved a resolution in support of the Interstate 73 project. Dorchester County Council Chairman Jamie Feltner, a committee member, opposed the resolution because he said that it endorsed sending much-needed highway dollars, possibly stimulus funds, to the Grand Strand.
The 2.2 mile-long final phase of the six-mile Myers Parkway will complete a beltway around Summerville that will relieve Main Street traffic.
"This is a huge deal. It's very important," said County Councilman and committee member Larry Hargett.
Construction of the $52 million final phase of the parkway is expected to begin this summer and be completed in about 18 months. Dorchester County residents approved a penny sales tax increase to help pay for extending the parkway.
Still unresolved is an Army Corps of Engineers wetlands permit necessary for the project to proceed.
The I-73 resolution vote came after the committee heard from state
Highway Commissioner Danny Isaac of Myrtle Beach. Grand Strand politicians and business owners have been pushing for the $2.4 billion I-73 project, a proposed highway between Myrtle Beach and Michigan. "We need I-73 as a state," Isaac told the committee.
Feltner suggested that the vote be put off until the next meeting. The resolution in support of I-73 passed in a voice vote. "We're working hard to get every dollar that we can for our region," Feltner said in an interview. In addition to the funding issue, Feltner said he felt that he didn't know enough about the I-73 project.
Coastal Conservation League Executive Director Dana Beach criticized the lack of public notice for the vote. It was not listed on the official agenda for the meeting.
"We're talking about $2 billion. That's the biggest project in the history of South Carolina," Beach said.
The I-73 project is expected to create more than 7,700 jobs and $1.2 billion in income during construction, a Coastal Carolina University research economist said in a report released in January. Supporters have criticized Gov. Mark Sanford and the state Transportation Department for not throwing enough weight behind the road. The department and governor's office have said they support the highway, but they said it does not fit the criteria of the proposed federal stimulus plan because the project will not be ready for construction soon enough.
Reach Prentiss Findlay at 937-5711 or pfindlay@postandcourier.com.
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Comments
barrister (anonymous) says...
Your story misses a crucial point. The BGM Parkway was the ONLY project eligible for stimulus money. It was eligible because the citizens of Dorchester County stepped up to the plate and enacted a one cent sales tax to get this much needed project moving.
March 31, 2009 at 6:18 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
grayghost (anonymous) says...
How does a 2 mile stretch of road cost $52 Million??????
March 31, 2009 at 7:57 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dave3719 (anonymous) says...
My thoughts exactly. Alot of money for a short road. I'm sure alot of this stimulus money will go right into someone's pocket. Greedy people is the reason we are in this situation to begin with.
March 31, 2009 at 8:20 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
icbmman (anonymous) says...
Interesting that these committee members for a Charleston area transportation committee approve of the I-73 project, when in fact, many of the impotent and imbecilic area leaders kotowed to special interest groups and rejected the idea of I-73 being routed HERE to CHARLESTON!
The Chas area needs another interstate to help out with traffic, but more importantly to serve two functions: allow outsiders access to a growing coastal city to stimulate job growth and provide an additional, more adequate hurricane evacuation route. Glenn McConnell Pkwy is really the perfect eastern terminus for the proposed I-14 that is supposed to be built from Augusta going west. Instead of I-14 ending in Augusta, it could head east through Walterboro, intersecting with I-95, and end as a business spur onto Glenn McConnell.
Another idea is to use Clements Ferry Road as a business spur (after widening it, of course) for an extension of I-73, having the interstate pass through Myrtle Beach and end here in Chas.
Of course, these are "outside-of-the box" ideas. I highly doubt that the committee here or other leaders in Chas have ever considered them.
March 31, 2009 at 9:36 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
UrGatorbait (anonymous) says...
icbmman you know common sense and practicality have no place in politics.
March 31, 2009 at 3:04 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
icbmman (anonymous) says...
Very true, Gator. It is sad that politics continues to be the noose that kills good ideas in government.
March 31, 2009 at 3:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
PalmettoDP (anonymous) says...
icbmman-
To a certain extent I agree. I am originally from Bamberg and that part of the state would definitely benefit from a direct interstate route between Charleston and Augusta. However, due to the exorbitant cost of construction, I don't think that will ever happen. It might be more practical to build a connector between the "Global Logistics Triangle" in Orangeburg County and I-20. Truckers already use the back roads through that area to avoid having to travel through Columbia.
Another idea is to do what Georgia did with the "Fall Line Freeway". It's not a real freeway, (it has private driveways and at-grade intersections) but the completed sections are built to high standards with almost no traffic lights. We could build a similar road between St. George and Augusta, using existing right-of-way between St. George and Bamberg. Even though the cost would be much lower than an interstate, I still think it would be hard to find funding in this fiscal situation.
March 31, 2009 at 6:05 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
newbattleaxe (anonymous) says...
The BGM Parkway has become a political boondoggle of the worst sort. It runs, and will run alongside what is basically storm drainage for about half of Summerville. I suppose this is part of the "wetlands" in question.
It will also run very close to the Summerville Country Club Golf Course and two elementary schools. But, it already runs between Spann Elementary and Summerville Catholic, and close to Summerville Elementary, and sees heavy school bus traffic every day.
It also runs over the old town landfill that was open about 30 years ago (and drained into the above-mentioned storm drainage.)
Beth McIntosh must be rolling over in her grave!
March 31, 2009 at 7:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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