Mount Pleasant gets $20M loan for U.S. 17
By Yvonne Wenger
COLUMBIA -- Drivers stuck in morning and afternoon traffic on U.S. Highway 17 in Mount Pleasant are one step closer to a little relief.
The state Transportation Infrastructure Bank Board voted unanimously Thursday to give the town a $20 million loan to widen five miles of the busy corridor from four to six lanes. The highway will be widened from the Isle of Palms connector to Darrell Creek Trail.
Construction is expected to take two years or less and is scheduled to begin in January.
Mayor Billy Swails traveled with town officials to the state Department of Transportation headquarters to make the case for the loan approval.
"It means everything to us, to our schools, to the traveling public," Swails said. "It truly is the avenue of tourism in South Carolina."
The 20-year loan will be combined with $12 million from Mount Pleasant and Charleston County and $3.3 million from the federal government. The town will pay about $800,000 in 2011 and roughly $1.6 million every year after that to repay the loan by 2030. Swails said the loan repayment will not require any property-tax increase. In fact, the town is seeking $10 million in federal cash to immediately pay off half of the balance of the loan.
Rep. Chip Limehouse, a Charleston Republican and a member of the bank board, said the road project is a quality-of-life issue.
"People in Mount Pleasant have a hard time in peak travel hours getting to and from work and school," Limehouse said. "Even in these poor economic times that we find ourselves in, I think it's vitally important that we maintain our quality of life. This is big news for the Hungry Neck Area."
The loan needs one more approval from the state Joint Bond Review Committee, which is expected. The board's next meeting is Aug. 5.
The long-anticipated road-widening is one of several road Mount Pleasant projects in the works.
Beginning this summer, the town has plans to widen 10 miles of U.S. 17 from the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge toward Awendaw. It also will improve frontage roads and intersections. Traffic moves at crawl during rush hour on the busy stretch of road. About 45,000 motorists travel on U.S. 17 each day, a number that is expected to reach 70,000 by 2030.
Reach Yvonne Wenger at 803-926-7855 or ywenger@postandcourier.com.
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