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Concerns have been raised that progress on the Horry County side of the project will outpace North Carolina’s, thereby locking in NCDOT to a route that the public hasn’t endorsed. Also, local tourism dollars are likely at stake, given the project would increase traffic flow to the Grand Strand.
South Carolina is further along in funding the project, having already dedicated $125 million to it via a 2016 Horry County capital project sales tax referendum. Right-of-way acquisitions on the South Carolina side of the project will begin in 2022 ; NCDOT has not dedicated any funds for right-of-way acquisitions for its portion of the project.
In all, the 19-mile proposed project will cost an estimated $552 million combined, with NCDOT required to cover roughly two-thirds of the total cost (14 miles of the project would run through North Carolina).
Each of the nine proposed route alternatives would replace roughly 6 miles of existing roadway on Highway 17 and ultimately converge at the existing terminus in South Carolina between the existing Carolina Bays Parkway S.C. 31 at S.C. 9 (view all rouiuvte alternatives).
If I understand correctly, somebody wants to spend $ 552 million dollars on Highway 17 improvements , so that you can drive from Brunswick County, NC to Myrtle Beach, SC a bit faster ??
Is anyone aware of the sorry state that I-95 is in ? NCDOT should spend that money improving I-95 , which has been sorely neglected.
Is anybody in Myrtle Beach, or coastal North Carolina, preparing for sea level rising ? It's going to hit hard.
On a related note - I read an article in the News and Observer a few days ago, which was about the fact that the Federal Government had just approved roughly $ 250 million dollars or so in order to repair beaches on Topsail Island ( excluding North Topsail). A major storm or two will quickly destroy these rebuilt beaches - unless - rising sea levels beat them to the punch. We need to stop the wasteful spending and accept reality.
This is from the recent N&O article:
"NORTH TOPSAIL BEACH
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will use money from a disaster bill to provide long-awaited federal funding for a pair of North Carolina beach nourishment projects, according to a release from U.S. Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis.
According to the release, the Corps will spend about $237 million building dunes and widening the beach on 10 miles of Topsail Island shoreline, including about four miles of southern North Topsail Beach and a little more than six miles of Surf City. The Corps will use an additional $44.5 million to build nearly six miles of dunes and widen 22.7 miles of beach on Carteret County’s Bogue Banks."
No wonder our country is running up massive budget deficits. This is such a waste of money.
Oh yeah - I forgot to mention that NCDOT is basically broke and had to lay off hundreds of employees. Some of the blame is because they had to spend large sums of monies on storm cleanups at the coast.
Last edited by Mr. Raleigh; 01-16-2020 at 09:33 PM..
If I understand correctly, somebody wants to spend $ 552 million dollars on Highway 17 improvements , so that you can drive from Brunswick County, NC to Myrtle Beach, SC a bit faster ??
Is anyone aware of the sorry state that I-95 is in ? NCDOT should spend that money improving I-95 , which has been sorely neglected.
Is anybody in Myrtle Beach, or coastal North Carolina, preparing for sea level rising ? It's going to hit hard.
On a related note - I read an article in the News and Observer a few days ago, which was about the fact that the Federal Government had just approved roughly $ 250 million dollars or so in order to repair beaches on Topsail Island ( excluding North Topsail). A major storm or two will quickly destroy these rebuilt beaches - unless - rising sea levels beat them to the punch. We need to stop the wasteful spending and accept reality.
This is from the recent N&O article:
"NORTH TOPSAIL BEACH
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will use money from a disaster bill to provide long-awaited federal funding for a pair of North Carolina beach nourishment projects, according to a release from U.S. Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis.
According to the release, the Corps will spend about $237 million building dunes and widening the beach on 10 miles of Topsail Island shoreline, including about four miles of southern North Topsail Beach and a little more than six miles of Surf City. The Corps will use an additional $44.5 million to build nearly six miles of dunes and widen 22.7 miles of beach on Carteret County’s Bogue Banks."
No wonder our country is running up massive budget deficits. This is such a waste of money.
Oh yeah - I forgot to mention that NCDOT is basically broke and had to lay off hundreds of employees. Some of the blame is because they had to spend large sums of monies on storm cleanups at the coast.
Coastal tourism is a multi-billion dollar industry in NC and SC and creates many millions of dollars in tax revenue, jobs, etc.
Yes, I am familiar with this, and it would be wonderful if it is accomplished. NC has been making patchwork improvements to 95 for years, yet nothing on the scale as adjacent states. DOT has many management issues and I am doubtful that they have the ability to widen 95 to the scale that this suggests. The NC Legislature just pumped more money into that organization because they were close to running out of money. Throw global warming, rising sea levels, sunny day flooding and more intense storms, there will likely never be enough state or federal funds available for coastal repairs. I hope that I am wrong. The NC coast has made zero plans for dealing with rising sea levels.
I understand that tourism is a huge and important industry. Perhaps tourism and dealing with rising sea levels can coexist.
If I understand correctly, somebody wants to spend $ 552 million dollars on Highway 17 improvements , so that you can drive from Brunswick County, NC to Myrtle Beach, SC a bit faster ??
Is anyone aware of the sorry state that I-95 is in ? NCDOT should spend that money improving I-95 , which has been sorely neglected.
Is anybody in Myrtle Beach, or coastal North Carolina, preparing for sea level rising ? It's going to hit hard.
On a related note - I read an article in the News and Observer a few days ago, which was about the fact that the Federal Government had just approved roughly $ 250 million dollars or so in order to repair beaches on Topsail Island ( excluding North Topsail). A major storm or two will quickly destroy these rebuilt beaches - unless - rising sea levels beat them to the punch. We need to stop the wasteful spending and accept reality.
This is from the recent N&O article:
"NORTH TOPSAIL BEACH
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will use money from a disaster bill to provide long-awaited federal funding for a pair of North Carolina beach nourishment projects, according to a release from U.S. Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis.
According to the release, the Corps will spend about $237 million building dunes and widening the beach on 10 miles of Topsail Island shoreline, including about four miles of southern North Topsail Beach and a little more than six miles of Surf City. The Corps will use an additional $44.5 million to build nearly six miles of dunes and widen 22.7 miles of beach on Carteret County’s Bogue Banks."
No wonder our country is running up massive budget deficits. This is such a waste of money.
Oh yeah - I forgot to mention that NCDOT is basically broke and had to lay off hundreds of employees. Some of the blame is because they had to spend large sums of monies on storm cleanups at the coast.
I-95 is the least important interstate in NC so it's totally understandable why it has gotten the least funding and improvements since it was built. It's mainly used by Northerners going back and forth to Florida. I'd prefer NCDOT spend highway funds on I-40/85/77/26 and such before 95. The best thing to get 95 up to speed would've been the tolls but people hear that word "toll" and go berserk. Tolls would've had the Northerners and Floridians who use 95 the most be the ones who paid for it's rebuilding.
I do somewhat agree about NC and the Feds spending so much money on maintaining and rebuilding beaches that are eroding. Long term the sea will win but NC seems hell bent on fighting against it as long as they can.
I-95 is the least important interstate in NC so it's totally understandable why it has gotten the least funding and improvements since it was built. It's mainly used by Northerners going back and forth to Florida. I'd prefer NCDOT spend highway funds on I-40/85/77/26 and such before 95. The best thing to get 95 up to speed would've been the tolls but people hear that word "toll" and go berserk. Tolls would've had the Northerners and Floridians who use 95 the most be the ones who paid for it's rebuilding.
I do somewhat agree about NC and the Feds spending so much money on maintaining and rebuilding beaches that are eroding. Long term the sea will win but NC seems hell bent on fighting against it as long as they can.
I agree with you in that I-95 widening has not been a state priority. However, it has become somewhat dangerous to drive on IMO because it wasn't designed to carry the volume of traffic that it currently does. It seems that even minor traffic accidents create lengthy backups. The toll road "taboo" was broken with the I-540 southern leg here, and I believe Charlotte has one also. Makes sense to apply to 95 improvements.
Regarding coastal development and beach maintenance, the day of reckoning will happen, sooner or later. Great segment on last Sunday's "60 Minutes" discussing this topic. It's a ticking time bomb I am afraid.
The toll road "taboo" was broken with the I-540 southern leg here, and I believe Charlotte has one also. Makes sense to apply to 95 improvements.
NCDOT can't toll I-95 or any other interstate because federal funding was involved when they were built. They can add new toll lanes like they did with I-77, but they can't toll the existing free lanes. That's why the tolled section of 540 is signed as a state route (NC-540) instead of I-540.
Section 113(a) of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 stated:
Upon a finding by the Secretary of Commerce that such action will promote the development of an integrated Interstate System, the Secretary is authorized to approve as part of the Interstate System any toll road, bridge, or tunnel, now or hereafter constructed, which meets the standards adopted for the improvement of projects located on the Interstate System, whenever such toll road, bridge, or tunnel is located on a route heretofore or hereafter designated as a part of the Interstate System: Provided, That no Federal-aid highway funds shall be expended for the construction, reconstruction, or improvement of any such toll road except to the extent hereafter permitted by law: Provided further, That no Federal-aid highway funds shall be expended for the construction, reconstruction, or improvement of any such toll bridge or tunnel except to the extent now or hereafter permitted by law.
The reason that there was talk of tolling I-95 a few years ago was because NC, along with 2 other states, had joined a pilot program that would allow the 3 states to toll one interstate each. NC eventually gave up it's spot.
The agency explained that while Congress originally established the pilot program in 1998, lawmakers in the 2015 Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act set a three-year deadline (with a possible one-year extension) for states to either use or lose their right to toll existing interstate lanes.
The legislation allows states in the pilot to toll an existing interstate mainline to support the rehabilitation or reconstruction of the road. Missouri, North Carolina and Virginia previously occupied spots but none implemented tolling plans under the program.
So the FHWA said it "reclaimed slots that had not advanced and issued a new Federal Register notice to solicit applications from states interested in interstate tolling."
The Oct. 20 Register notice said states can already assess tolls on new interstate lanes under certain conditions, or to convert a high-occupancy-vehicle lane into a price-managed lane.
But the FHWA's pilot program provides the only federal authority for states to toll existing lanes to pay for rebuilding them, and the Notice said that applies to areas "that could not otherwise be adequately maintained or functionally improved without the collection of tolls."
Yes, the I-540 vs. NC-540 explanation is correct, but it's a matter of semantics to the average person, because both are parts of an outer loop. Tolling was elected in order greatly expedite the construction of the southern portion, rather than waiting on federal funding which might not ever arrive. It was the best decision to make, particularly since Wake County is growing so fast.
There's no excuse for ignoring 95. Adding new toll lanes would be a reasonable solution.
There's no excuse for ignoring 95. Adding new toll lanes would be a reasonable solution.
I agree that I-95 had been sorely neglected until now, but given that I-95 goes through some of the poorest areas of the state, you'd be hard put to find any support for that. A politician supporting tolls of any kind in a mostly poverty-stricken area would be committing political suicide.
The full time growth in this area (Horry/Brunswick/New Hanover) necessitates this extension...plus it is part of the future interstate system.
And it has major tourism implications. Right now traffic is using a two lane cutoff road through residential areas. Traffic backups substantially in the summer and we all know how the grand strand traffic was before the Carolina Bays Parkway was built.
From the NC benefit, it essentially expands the Grand Strand into NC from SC...think traffic coming in from the airport and such. It also opens up Brunswick Co and New Hanover Co residents into using Myrtle Beach for day trips, etc...saving significant time. With the southern section opening it also decreases travel time to Charleston along the coast. Connecting the Carolina Bays to I-140 loop in Wilmington should be a priority for NC. Beach traffic will flow much better, evacuations will be easier.
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