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plan is done;
time to set
true priorities
The recently released Columbus County Comprehensive Transportation plan lays out a blueprint for possible major highway construction and improvements in the coming years.
The plan, as expected, establishes very preliminary routes for I-74 from U.S. 74-76 to Brunswick County and for I-20 from I-95 near Florence to Chadbourn.
It’s good that these tentative interstate routes are on paper, but funding for them is another matter.
There’s probably not much Columbus County officials or even the legislative delegation can do to motivate construction of highways that will cost hundreds of millions of dollars. We suspect, for example, that an I-20 extension probably won’t be built in the next 30-plus years because of more pressing needs. If I-74 is built through the Green Swamp, it will only be because the construction of the new port at Southport mandates it.
But, officials can and should continually lobby for the following changes:
•One glaring omission from the plan is a U.S. 74/S.C. 9 connector that would travel from the county’s industrial park to Tabor City and connect with S.C. 9 somewhere near Loris. Growth from the beaches will surely follow this corridor.
•If a connector is simply not going to happen, then the widening of U.S. 701 from Tabor City to Whiteville to four lanes seems like the next logical step. Traffic on the highway is already nearly impossible, especially during rush hour, and will only increase.
•We have long advocated putting cloverleafs at existing at-grade intersections along U.S. 74, and fortunately, cloverleafs have been recently announced for two dangerous intersections – N.C. 211 at Bolton and N.C. 242 near Evergreen. If cloverleafs were added at Lake Waccamaw, Hallsboro, Old 74 and Boardman, I-74 would essentially be completed from the Robeson line to Bolton, where I-74 will turn south. Safety would be greatly enhanced as well. Just look at the number of lives that have been saved by the construction of the cloverleaf at N.C. 410 and U.S. 74.
•The widening of N.C. 87 from Riegelwood to Elizabethtown appears imminent. A public hearing on the matter is set for Aug. 31 in Riegelwood. Nevertheless, improvements to the dreadful intersection at U.S. 74-76 and N.C. 87 can’t come soon enough.
•There are a number of proposals to widen some heavily traveled roads to 12-foot lanes with two-foot shoulders. Our first priority would be N.C. 905 from N.C. 130 through Pireway. This is a winding, dangerous road. It is heavily traveled by beach-goers and is increasingly the site of horrific wrecks. RPR 1001 from the Bladen line to N.C. 130 through Hallsboro is another road that could use wider travel lanes and shoulders.
The new plan is essentially a wish list combining recommendations from several sources.
Officials would be well-advised to develop a realistic priority list of these projects on which they could have influence and work to see them through.