Harrelson Complete at Last



Memo to Google: It’s time to update the map of Myrtle Beach. Thursday’s editorial displays our giddiness at the prospect of Harrelson Boulevard finally linking Kings Highway and the Bypass:

It could be easier to get to the airport by the year 2000 if City Council approves $3.2 million to extend Harrelson Boulevard as part of the 1998-99 budget.

– June 8, 1998, article in The Sun News

Well, it only took about 15 years, marked by a series of funding squabbles between the city and county and a brief hiccup involving the Community Appearance Board, but the Harrelson Boulevard extension is finally done. For drivers on the city’s south end, this is long-awaited and enormously welcome news.

How long have drivers been waiting the road? Myrtle Beach City Council was presented with a plan to extend what was then called Jetport Road from Kings Highway to U.S. 17 Bypass all the way back in August 1997. Traffic engineers told city leaders it could be finished by November 1999. (In 1997, just for the sake of context, the city was still six years away from the groundbreaking at the nearby Coastal Grand mall.)

Given that sort of timeline, we can certainly understand the jubilant feelings of Horry County Councilman Marion Foxworth, who has been involved in the road’s extension for years.

“I’m exceedingly happy that it’s finally coming to fruition,” he said. “Finally” is definitely the right word to use in talking about the extension. “Government moves at glacial speeds sometimes,” Foxworth noted. We’ve certainly noticed as well, but the opening Thursday of the road is a great cause for celebration.

When the road was first proposed – before Farrow Parkway and before the Pine Island Road improvements – there was no direct or easy route from Kings Highway to the Bypass between U.S. 501 and S.C. 544. As the south end has grown over the past decade, the need for more links between the two has become increasingly apparent and the newest link will be a welcome relief valve for the few other connections.

Beyond moving drivers more efficiently around Myrtle Beach, the road also lines up with the recently built Fantasy Harbour bridge crossing the Intracoastal Waterway. With the Freestyle nee Hard Rock Park shuttered, traffic over the bridge likely won’t be quite as high as expected, but the route should still provide a convenient shortcut for locals looking for a quicker drive home or into the city.

And while a ribbon cutting years ago would have been nice, the road’s opening now does provide a timely alternative to Farrow Parkway and the ongoing construction at the back gate overpass. If even some drivers can avoid what will soon be an even larger headache there, this road will be well loved.

Now that Harrelson is complete, we can start looking to other road hassles in our communities. Glenns Bay Road near Surfside Beach and U.S. 501 through Carolina Forest come to mind. Foxworth, who won’t be attending Thursday’s ceremonies because he’s teaching a class at the time, said that there are plenty of roads the county would like to improve, if only it had the money. “We’ve got tons of plans, it’s the funding that we’re having a hard time coming up with,” he said. Here’s hoping the next ones don’t take another 15 years.

Roads and infrastructure are one of the more tangible ways in which citizens can see their elected officials at work. Drivers in the coming years may not appreciate the long struggle by city and county officials – as well as the Base Redevelopment Authority – to extend Harrelson, but those involved deserve credit for seeing the long project through to the end.

 

The right to know

Citizens who support government transparency and public access to records would do well to attend the discussion Thursday night at Coastal Carolina University. The school is hosting a panel of experts – including some from The Sun News – to talk about “the use and misuse of the South Carolina Freedom of Information law.”

Interested citizens are welcome and encouraged to attend at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Edwards College Recital Hall.

 

How long have drivers been waiting the road? Myrtle Beach City Council was presented with a plan to extend what was then called Jetport Road from Kings Highway to U.S. 17 Bypass all the way back in August 1997. Traffic engineers told city leaders it could be finished by November 1999. (In 1997, just for the sake of context, the city was still six years away from the groundbreaking at the nearby Coastal Grand mall.)

Given that sort of timeline, we can certainly understand the jubilant feelings of Horry County Councilman Marion Foxworth, who has been involved in the road’s extension for years.

“I’m exceedingly happy that it’s finally coming to fruition,” he said. “Finally” is definitely the right word to use in talking about the extension. “Government moves at glacial speeds sometimes,” Foxworth noted. We’ve certainly noticed as well, but the opening Thursday of the road is a great cause for celebration.

When the road was first proposed – before Farrow Parkway and before the Pine Island Road improvements – there was no direct or easy route from Kings Highway to the Bypass between U.S. 501 and S.C. 544. As the south end has grown over the past decade, the need for more links between the two has become increasingly apparent and the newest link will be a welcome relief valve for the few other connections.

Beyond moving drivers more efficiently around Myrtle Beach, the road also lines up with the recently built Fantasy Harbour bridge crossing the Intracoastal Waterway. With the Freestyle nee Hard Rock Park shuttered, traffic over the bridge likely won’t be quite as high as expected, but the route should still provide a convenient shortcut for locals looking for a quicker drive home or into the city.

And while a ribbon cutting years ago would have been nice, the road’s opening now does provide a timely alternative to Farrow Parkway and the ongoing construction at the back gate overpass. If even some drivers can avoid what will soon be an even larger headache there, this road will be well loved.

Now that Harrelson is complete, we can start looking to other road hassles in our communities. Glenns Bay Road near Surfside Beach and U.S. 501 through Carolina Forest come to mind. Foxworth, who won’t be attending Thursday’s ceremonies because he’s teaching a class at the time, said that there are plenty of roads the county would like to improve, if only it had the money. “We’ve got tons of plans, it’s the funding that we’re having a hard time coming up with,” he said. Here’s hoping the next ones don’t take another 15 years.

Roads and infrastructure are one of the more tangible ways in which citizens can see their elected officials at work. Drivers in the coming years may not appreciate the long struggle by city and county officials – as well as the Base Redevelopment Authority – to extend Harrelson, but those involved deserve credit for seeing the long project through to the end.

 

The right to know

Citizens who support government transparency and public access to records would do well to attend the discussion Thursday night at Coastal Carolina University. The school is hosting a panel of experts – including some from The Sun News – to talk about “the use and misuse of the South Carolina Freedom of Information law.”

Interested citizens are welcome and encouraged to attend at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Edwards College Recital Hall.