No Clear Roadmap

Sunday’s editorial looks at the shifting future of the Interstate 73 project.

While the recent announcement of $10 million in stimulus money for the proposed Interstate 73 was celebrated around the Grand Strand, it was actually tough not to be a little disappointed by it.

To build I-73 in South Carolina is expected to cost $2.4 billion. The interchange with Interstate 95 and first six-mile leg are expected to cost $360 million. In reality, that $10 million grant leaves us still holding a $350 million tab and likely isn’t going to get that road built any faster.

Local officials originally had much higher hopes for the stimulus bill’s TIGER program, requesting $300 million out of its $1.5 billion allocation. Such a large request was always known to be a long shot, but Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Brad Dean told The Sun News editorial staff this week that locals were anticipating TIGER to pay for just a handful of large interstate-style projects around the country, rather than the eventual decision to distribute about 50 “seed” grants.

Indeed, no single project received anywhere near $300 million – the three largest awards, for example, each topped out around $100 million. Very few TIGER requests were fully funded, though most received a larger portion of their request than I-73 did. Still, inclusion at all is highly significant – to make it in that top 50, I-73 beat out 1,400 other applications across the country.

One mode of thinking will surely be that Myrtle Beach should now hope to parlay that recognition into what really will be I-73’s last real shot at federal funding, the upcoming six-year highway reauthorization bill, beyond which no major transportation projects are likely in the foreseeable future. Here, again, is where U.S. Rep. Henry Brown’s retirement will harm us: That bill will be written in the congressional committee where he has sat for years, and Brown would have been the ideal person to make that argument on Myrtle Beach’s behalf.

Ironically, our most strategically placed advocate for this strategy may be U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, whose famous antipathy for federal spending is balanced somewhat by a strong record of support for I-73 when it has counted most. The Senate is more assured of remaining in Democratic control than the House, however, so again DeMint’s voice might be muted compared to what Brown’s could have been.

Some now question whether Congress will even continue building interstates in the way it has in the past (will the usual 80 percent federal funding continue?), so a more realistic path forward may be re-evaluating the state’s role. The $10 million was not all TIGER had to offer I-73; the interchange project also became eligible for a $100 million federal loan from a special program for projects intended to provide secure federal financing for projects dependent on revenue from tolls or other sources that can be uncertain. A number of projects across the country have been completed through this program (such as Charleston’s Cooper River Bridge); but the federal loan can only cover a third of the project’s cost - still leaving South Carolina responsible for $200 million.

State lawmakers and the state Department of Transportation have largely been very vocal in their support for I-73, and the state has even appropriated a few million dollars to it each year. That may no longer be enough.

The feds “have put this back on us,” Dean said. “There’s no clear roadmap of how to leverage it into more money, but the opportunity is there.”

Myrtle Beach simply must have an interstate connection. The chance of a federally built I-73 is narrowing, so it may be time to begin thinking of state-based alternatives if little or no more federal cash comes through.

To build I-73 in South Carolina is expected to cost $2.4 billion. The interchange with Interstate 95 and first six-mile leg are expected to cost $360 million. In reality, that $10 million grant leaves us still holding a $350 million tab and likely isn’t going to get that road built any faster.

Local officials originally had much higher hopes for the stimulus bill’s TIGER program, requesting $300 million out of its $1.5 billion allocation. Such a large request was always known to be a long shot, but Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Brad Dean told The Sun News editorial staff this week that locals were anticipating TIGER to pay for just a handful of large interstate-style projects around the country, rather than the eventual decision to distribute about 50 “seed” grants.

Indeed, no single project received anywhere near $300 million – the three largest awards, for example, each topped out around $100 million. Very few TIGER requests were fully funded, though most received a larger portion of their request than I-73 did. Still, inclusion at all is highly significant – to make it in that top 50, I-73 beat out 1,400 other applications across the country.

One mode of thinking will surely be that Myrtle Beach should now hope to parlay that recognition into what really will be I-73’s last real shot at federal funding, the upcoming six-year highway reauthorization bill, beyond which no major transportation projects are likely in the foreseeable future. Here, again, is where U.S. Rep. Henry Brown’s retirement will harm us: That bill will be written in the congressional committee where he has sat for years, and Brown would have been the ideal person to make that argument on Myrtle Beach’s behalf.

Ironically, our most strategically placed advocate for this strategy may be U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, whose famous antipathy for federal spending is balanced somewhat by a strong record of support for I-73 when it has counted most. The Senate is more assured of remaining in Democratic control than the House, however, so again DeMint’s voice might be muted compared to what Brown’s could have been.

Some now question whether Congress will even continue building interstates in the way it has in the past (will the usual 80 percent federal funding continue?), so a more realistic path forward may be re-evaluating the state’s role. The $10 million was not all TIGER had to offer I-73; the interchange project also became eligible for a $100 million federal loan from a special program for projects intended to provide secure federal financing for projects dependent on revenue from tolls or other sources that can be uncertain. A number of projects across the country have been completed through this program (such as Charleston’s Cooper River Bridge); but the federal loan can only cover a third of the project’s cost - still leaving South Carolina responsible for $200 million.

State lawmakers and the state Department of Transportation have largely been very vocal in their support for I-73, and the state has even appropriated a few million dollars to it each year. That may no longer be enough.

The feds “have put this back on us,” Dean said. “There’s no clear roadmap of how to leverage it into more money, but the opportunity is there.”

Myrtle Beach simply must have an interstate connection. The chance of a federally built I-73 is narrowing, so it may be time to begin thinking of state-based alternatives if little or no more federal cash comes through.