Skip to main content

SC Infrastructure Bank Awards Monies

Image
By
The SC Infrastructure bank was very creative in how it awarded $174 million of the possible $300 million in road funds yesterday. As a result, most of the requested projects will receive some funding from the infrastructure bank.

First, the bank loaned $93 million to the South Carolina DOT to widen a deadly stretch of US 17. The loan is to cover the contracts for widening 5.5 miles of a 22 mile stretch of the deadly highway. The state has until September 1st to award the construction contracts. Since this is a loan, the $93 million does not go against the $300 million total. Note: The loan can extend up to $221 million.

Second, Horry County will receive $40 million of the requested $150 million towards right-of-way acquisition for the final phase of the Carolina Bays Parkway. (SC 707 to SC 544) The awarding of the $40 million is contingent on Horry County residents approving a once cent sales taxes for highway construction this fall.

Third, $99 million was awarded to Charleston County for right-of-way and design projects for the proposed extension of I-526. The other Charleston related project - an access road from I-26 to the Port of Charleston - was denied. Charleston County has already gained approval for a 1/2 cent sales tax for road construction.

Also, the state awared Mount Pleasant $5 million to buy land at the intersection of I-526 and US 17.

Finally, the state awarded Aiken County $30 million to cover cost increases for I-520. The county had requested $50 million.

Anderson County which had requested funds for widening projects had previously withdrawn their application.

Articles: Infrastrcutre Bank doles out money for highway projects --Associated Press
Tax would net S.C. 31 funds ---Myrtle Beach Sun News

Commentary:

The remaining $126 million can be rewarded at a later date or can be rolled over into a bigger pot for future needs. The bank was creative in awarding money and also in spreading out the funds. The $93 million, and possibly $221 million, loan to the SCDOT means that there will be more funds incoming to the bank.

I agree that the most pressing issue is the US 17 widening. In the past nine years, 34 people have died as a result of wrecks on that stretch of highway. In North Carolina, US 601 in Union County -- from Monroe (US 74) to the SC Line -- is similar with the amount of deaths on that highway.

The Bank awarded money for r-o-w and design projects. Their main concern was allowing the counties and state the chance to purchase land before rising real estate costs would get to far ahead of what could be affordable.

The next thing to watch is Horry County and the passing of a referrendum for a one cent county sales tax to provide transportation funding. The tax, which is currently going through the process of getting on the fall ballot, would provide funds for an estimated $425 million in transportation projects. Similar measures have beeen voted down by residents in the past.

Even if the tax vote falls short, the $40 million for Horry County could still be received as the bank stated that they would accept other methods of obtaining the local match in funding.

Previous Entries:
SC: State Committee Sees Carolina Bays Parkway Up Close.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

By
In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...
4 comments
Read more

Massena Center Suspension Bridge

By
The Massena Center Bridge, also known as the Holton D. Robinson Bridge, has had quite the tumultuous history. Situated on the Grasse River just east of Massena, New York in the hamlet of Massena Center, the Massena Center Bridge is a reminder of the efforts the community has made in order to connect over the river. The first and only other known bridge to be built at Massena Center was built in 1832, but that bridge was never long for this world. During the spring of 1833, the Grasse River dammed itself due to an ice dam, flooded and lifted the bridge off its foundation, destroying the bridge in the process.  The floods were frequent in the river during the spring, often backing up the river from Hogansburg and past Massena Center, but not to nearby Massena. After the first bridge disappeared, local residents had to resort to traveling seven miles west to Massena to cross the next closest bridge, and that was no easy task for a horse and buggy. However, it was many decades befo...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Dead Man's Curve of Interstate 90 and Innerbelt Freeway in Cleveland

By
"Dead Man's Curve" refers to the transition ramp Interstate 90 takes between Cleveland Memorial Shoreway onto the Innerbelt Freeway in downtown Cleveland, Ohio.  Said curve includes a sharp transition between the two freeways which is known for a high rate of accidents.  Currently the curve (not officially named) has a 35 MPH advisory speed and numerous safety features intended to mitigate crashes.  When the Interstate System was first conceived during 1956, Interstate 90 was intended to use the entirety Cleveland Memorial Shoreway and connect to the Northwest Freeway through Lakewood.  The Innerbelt Freeway was initially planned as the northernmost segment of Interstate 71.  The extension of Cleveland Memorial Shoreway west of Edgewater Park was never constructed which led to Interstate 90 being routed through the Innerbelt Freeway.   Part 1; the history of Cleveland's Innerbelt Freeway and Deadman's Curve The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 was signe...
Post a Comment
Read more