By LEE HINNANT

If it happens at all, construction of Interstate 74 through Columbus County is probably decades away. Still, Lake Waccamaw town officials are raising concerns about access to the highway from their town.

The state Department of Transportation released a draft feasibility study in summer 2005 that stated that building I-74 from Whiteville to South Carolina would cost at least $629 million but appeared feasible. The 65-mile stretch would include a new highway roughly parallel to N.C. 211 through the Green Swamp that connects with the Carolina Bays Parkway at the South Carolina line.

As envisioned, the highway would include two truck-weighing stations near Whiteville and a pair of rest stops somewhere near Lake Waccamaw. Access to Lake Waccamaw would be at an interchange at Chauncey Town Road. The other major road to the lake – Old Lake Road – would be converted to an overpass with no direct access to I-74. Old Lake Road would be shifted slightly to the east to avoid East Columbus High School.

In a recent letter to DOT Division Engineer Terry Gibson, Lake Waccamaw Town Manager Darren Currie wrote that town commissioners were concerned about the possibility of constructing a single interchange.

Currie wrote that East Columbus High School is located at Old Lake Road and U.S. 74 – the highway slated for conversion to an interstate. “If no interchange is constructed there, all of that traffic must be diverted to a two-lane road, through town, potentially causing unsafe conditions within the town and increasing traffic volumes due to teachers, buses, parents and students using an alternative route to the high school. This is in addition to the normal traffic flow of residents in the area.”

As the town grows, not having an interchange at Old Lake Road could make the problem worse, Currie wrote.

Town Council members are concerned about congestion and safety, particularly during peak traffic times for the high school and just before and after sporting events, Currie said.

Gibson oversees a five-county DOT division that includes Columbus County. He said Lake Waccamaw officials are wise to voice their concerns, but cautioned that most details of the interstate are not even in the planning stage yet.
“A feasibility study is just that – we look at what may or may not be feasible,” Gibson said. There will be a series of public workshops and chances for comment by government agencies and the public before road planners work on the details of the highway, he said.

“Until planning on the project starts, a lot of these decisions will not be made,” Gibson said. He said that Lake Waccamaw and other affected areas should continue to work with the regional transportation planning group, which is coordinated by the Cape Fear Council of Governments.

The section of highway from Whiteville to Lake Waccamaw is already in the state’s official Transportation Improvement Plan, but is not currently funded. If and when it is funded, the work could be done even if the interstate plan is delayed or altered.