"On Monday, the Community Coalition of Little River organized a forum with local politicians to discuss the need to extend the Carolina Bays Parkway north to the state line.
The highway currently ends at Route 9, and the fork in the road leads a lot of traffic through the Little River community.
Little River residents like Delburt Wise say traffic in the downtown area can be unbearable at times because of the large number of people who get diverted there from Highway 31....
Mike Barbee with the South Carolina Department of Transportation says the department has already conducted a feasibility study in conjunction with the North Carolina Department of Transportation to determine how the extended highway would impact the environment and the people living in the community.Barbee says the long term goal would be to connect Highway 31 with the new Interstate 74, which is already partially funded by the NCDOT.
However without any money available to fund the project now, the highway could take seven to nine years before it would be complete."
Click the title for the entire article and video of this report (which shows SC 31 signs haven't been updated to SC's new shield design).
Comment: The extension to US 17 in NC should happen, a study was made and several alternatives were selected before money for the study ran out. Whether it ever becomes part of I-74 is still a good question. Both NCDOT and the NC Turnpike Authority have studied the proposed route from US 74/76 to US 17 and have found the route fiscally as well as environmentally expensive and not adequately fundable through tolls. IMO the better choice is to continue to route I-74 along US 74/76 to Wilmington. Perhaps in the next 20 years, NCDOT can slowly transform US 17 into a freeway which could be an I-74 spur to SC. Meanwhile SC can concentrate on building I-73.
Comments
I do agree that they should extend I-74 East to Wilmington and focus on I-73 in SC.. I-73 in SC is important beach roadway.