SCDOT official says I-73 first phase is 'shovel ready' come 2024

CONWAY, S.C. (WPDE) — SCDOT officials say the first phase of I-73 will be 'shovel ready' by the New Year.

That update came from SCDOT's Leah Quattlebaum, the production engineer for the Pee Dee Region, during the RIDE IV Sales Tax Commission meeting on Wednesday.

Quattlebaum told commissioners that the right-of-way acquisition, i.e. the land purchasing to make way for the road project, was complete in both Dillon and a majority of Marion County.

The corridor for Interstate 73 would eventually connect the beach to the mountains. In 2021, SCDOT released formal phases for the project within the Pee Dee.

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Phase 1 will connect I-95 in Dillon County to Highway 501 south of Latta. That portion is estimated to cost a max of $300 million. That amount has been requested in Governor Henry McMaster's executive budget for numerous legislative terms now, but it has never been approved by the full legislature.

Quattlebaum said SCDOT is working now on right-of-way purchasing within Horry County from the Little Pee Dee River to the eventual connecting point for I-73 and SC 22.