Those moves, Clemmons said,
could jump-start construction and thus position the I-73 for two much
larger pots of money: a $1.5 billion grant program for large, long-term
projects through the federal stimulus bill, and the upcoming highway
reauthorization bill, which is only approved once every 10 years.
Clemmons said the road could be in store for $30 million to $300
million.
The
intersection between federal and state appropriations is ever uncertain
ground, but as critical a project as I-73 will be for the Grand Strand,
these developments are certainly welcome.
As the first vendors were hammering
their tent pegs into the ground Thursday afternoon at Club 2001 on Lake
Arrowhead Road, about 20 motorcyclists clad in matching yellow T-shirts
and black vests eased into the dusty parking lot.
Chaz Drummond,
a 41-year-old oil-refinery engineer from Delaware, said the Ruff N
Ready motorcycle club has been coming to Bikefest for about seven
years. But if not for advance reservations on a North Myrtle Beach
condo, they probably would not have come this year.
"Things are so strict, it intrudes on your fun," Drummond said.
The last two weeks saw a marked
change from the first half of the May bike-rally season in previous
years, as Harley riders left Ocean Boulevard and Myrtle Beach empty,
congregating in smaller crowds north and south of the city. This
weekend will provide answers to the second half of the "What will May
bring?" puzzle, as the Grand Strand finds out how Bikefest attendees
react to Myrtle Beach's new anti-rally laws.
On
Thursday, helmet-clad sport-bike riders were already zipping around
Myrtle Beach, but Ocean Boulevard, one traditional gathering point, was
quiet. In Atlantic Beach, the other central Bikefest location, Town
Manager Kenneth McIver said he has seen intermittent bikers, but noted
that this will be the first year in recent memory in town that no one
even puts up a stage.
Wampee resident Eva McMillan was also at
Club 2001 on Thursday, wearing a vest for the Carolina Knight Riders
motorcycle club that started the Memorial Day weekend Bikefest 29 years
ago in Atlantic Beach. She said she expects riders to avoid Myrtle
Beach's Ocean Boulevard as they did last week.
"We're just going to see what's going to be," McMillan said.
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