FUNDING STILL LACKING …
Interstate 73 could soon become a reality in South Carolina after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) issued a key permit for the costly construction project.
Of course funding for the $2 billion highway remains elusive at the federal, state and local levels – even assuming the interstate opens as a toll road.
Ironically, the USACE permit was approved just as escalating violence in downtown Myrtle Beach, S.C. threatened the Grand Strand tourism mecca slated to be served by the new road.
Nonetheless, the road’s top proponents in Congress were ecstatic.
“This permit is a result of a lot of hard work and collaboration,” congressman Tom Rice (SC-7) said in a statement. “The opportunity that I-73 will bring to the seventh district is truly unparalleled and now that we have the permit in hand we can begin construction and see this project come to light. We still have a ways to go but we’re closer than ever and I won’t stop until this project is complete and people are driving on this road.”
He should stop … now.
For years, this website has debunked the political spin associated with this proposed road – which state leaders have been trying to foist on taxpayers via all manner of dubious methods (including exceedingly costly methods).
Like so many other unnecessary government projects in the Palmetto State, this road is simply not needed. And even if it was needed, South Carolina taxpayers simply cannot afford it.
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