Roads get $85 million grant

Horry County garnered another $85 million in state road funds Tuesday, clinching money to cover the rising costs of extending the Carolina Bays Parkway.
"That's a very important grant for Horry County," said Don Leonard, chairman of the state Infrastructure Bank that awarded the funds. "Without that grant, the Carolina Bays Parkway would never be completed." The bank was established 10 years ago, partly because of Horry County's road problems. It is assigned to assist with high-dollar projects of state significance.
The 4.2-mile Carolina Bays project will take the road, also known as S.C. 31, from the current end point at S.C. 544 to S.C. 707. The two-lane S.C. 707 will be expanded to five lanes down to U.S. 17 Bypass at Murrells Inlet. What had been estimated as a $246 million project is now projected to cost $331 million, said County Attorney John Weaver. He and Steve Gosnell represented the county at the bank meeting in Columbia.
Of that amount, about $7 million is extra right of way costs to buy Osprey Plantation before any homes could be built there. The road corridor goes through the middle of it.
The rest of the extra money is to cover rising costs for materials and construction, Weaver said. The county will pay the rest of the project costs with money from the 1 percent road sales tax.
Some of the money could be recovered when the remaining portions of what was Osprey Plantation are resold by the county (once the land required for the road is determined), Weaver said.
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