BRUNSWICK COUNTY — The North Carolina Department of Transportation will soon narrow down its list of route alternatives for the Carolina Bays Parkway Extension, a half-billion-dollar proposed highway project proposed to streamline traffic between southern Brunswick County and North Myrtle Beach.
In December, NCDOT released nine route alternatives for the project that’s been studied since the mid-2000s. Shortly after, NCDOT hosted a pair of public meetings in Little River and in Sunset Beach to present information on the project and hear feedback from stakeholders.
Related: NCDOT releases maps, public hearings next week for half-billion Brunswick-S.C. highway project
So far, the project has already received pushback from some factions of the community, including Sunset Beach Town Council, Brunswick County Board of Commissioners, and a multi-generational farm, Indigo Farms.
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 route alternatives).
Brunswick County Commissioners’ response
At the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners meeting in December, board members each shared their individual qualms with the proposed project.
Commissioner Marty Cooke asked for a motion to formally request a parallel route along Highway 17 that did not pick up steam; the board was supportive of a parallel route instead but was hesitant to formally weigh in as a unit.
Concerned that South Carolina’s planning cycle would lock in North Carolina to pick a route that isn’t favorable, Commissioner Cooke spoke passionately against the existing nine route alternatives at the meeting. “I don’t like any of them. Because they’re wrecking something anywhere they go,” Cooke said.
Commissioner Randy Thompson shared concerns that given NCDOT’s current funding crisis, the Brunswick County side of the project could get left behind. “They’re going to run their road to where we’re going to have to pick it up,” Thompson said of SCDOT’s possible plans. “That may very well define what our route is going to be.”
A parallel route — what Commissioners would instead like to see — would require a shifted study area, which means starting the project over.
“I do promise you this faithfully. I know this,” Cooke said, referencing the Department of Transportation planning process. “They’re going to stick to this script. And they’re going to come out and swank ’till the cows come home about the script. By the time we’re all done, it’s not going to change.”
For Chairman Frank Williams, the discussion brought up a familiar, recently scrapped NCDOT project: “To me, this is déjà vu,” Williams said at the meeting. “Instead of saying ‘Cape Fear Crossing’, you’re saying Carolina Bays Parkway. And it’s pretty much the exact same situation just on the other end of the county.”
Other feedback
As WECT first reported this week, Sunset Beach has come up with its own solution. At its regular meeting Monday, Jan. 6, Sunset Beach Town Council voted to adopt a tenth route that would instead extend the northernmost routes, four and one, keeping the extension parallel to Highway 17 instead of tying back into it, as all nine routes depict.
Sunset Beach’s proposed tenth route concept below:
In a release shared Tuesday from the Wilmington-based non-profit, Feast Down East, a local farm is also concerned about the proposed routes.
Six of the nine alternatives would result in closing Indigo Farms, a multi-generational farm located off Hickman Road that grows fruits and vegetables. The non-profit and farm are campaigning against routes one through six and are supportive of routes seven through nine.
Public comment
The public comment period on narrowing down the nine proposed alternatives ended Jan. 10 at midnight. Comments submitted before this deadline will be considered part of the public record, according to an NCDOT spokesperson, and comments submitted after will still be considered but not in the public record.
Weigh in on the routes via a detailed project website, which includes the option to draw suggested lines, provide commentary, and rank alternatives.
Once comments are analyzed, NCDOT will rule out a few of the proposed alternatives to narrow down which routes will be further studied in a detailed environmental analysis. NCDOT will narrow the routes down this spring; a Draft Environmental Impact Statement is expected this winter.
Once the environmental study is available, a new public comment period will open, including public hearings. A preferred alternative (not the final decision, but the last step before it) could be selected by summer 2021.
Send tips and comments to Johanna Ferebee Still at [email protected]
