I-73 & I-74 in S.C.

[74/171FAN]

I hope Interstate 73 is built in South Carolina, as well as Interstate 74. Otherwise, North Carolina will have a lot of explaining to do to future generations why they picked such hair-brained numbers.

My three year old son (future generation) loves I-73.  He thinks it's neat.

I think I loved the I-73 and I-74 numbers until the adult world took a hold on my mind.      

Thinking about it though, the plans for I-73 in SC (combined with SELL (Southern Evacuation Lifeline)) will not truly fix US 501 from Conway to Myrtle Beach itself.   For the record, how used is SC 22 at this point?  (considering I have only traveled the eastern part from SC 31 to US 17)

I don't know because I have not traveled in SC 22 for like a decade. But, I don't understand where the SELL came in? The point of I-73 in SC is to connect Myrtle Beach to the interstate system. But, where does SELL come in?

This link (see map on page) shows the western endpoint at the current US 501/SC 22 interchange.  It seems to be mainly geared towards areas south of Myrtle Beach though the way I see it.  (Garden City, Surfside Beach, Murrells Inlet, etc.)

[Strider]

I hope Interstate 73 is built in South Carolina, as well as Interstate 74. Otherwise, North Carolina will have a lot of explaining to do to future generations why they picked such hair-brained numbers.

My three year old son (future generation) loves I-73.  He thinks it's neat.

I think I loved the I-73 and I-74 numbers until the adult world took a hold on my mind.      

Thinking about it though, the plans for I-73 in SC (combined with SELL (Southern Evacuation Lifeline)) will not truly fix US 501 from Conway to Myrtle Beach itself.   For the record, how used is SC 22 at this point?  (considering I have only traveled the eastern part from SC 31 to US 17)

I don't know because I have not traveled in SC 22 for like a decade. But, I don't understand where the SELL came in? The point of I-73 in SC is to connect Myrtle Beach to the interstate system. But, where does SELL come in?

This link (see map on page) shows the western endpoint at the current US 501/SC 22 interchange.  It seems to be mainly geared towards areas south of Myrtle Beach though the way I see it.  (Garden City, Surfside Beach, Murrells Inlet, etc.)

Oh i see.. thanks for posting the link. SC 22 extension maybe?

[Grzrd]

This July 11 article reports that NCDOT has selected an environmental engineering firm to conduct an environmental study of a an extension of the Carolina Bays Parkway in Brunswick County:

The proposed Carolina Bays Parkway extension has been talked about for more than a decade, but recent progress could expedite the project in coming months. Last month the N.C. Department of Transportation selected an engineering firm to complete the environmental study for the portion of the roadway in North Carolina.
According to the DOT, the extension would link the Carolina Bays Parkway -- also known as S.C. 31 -- from S.C. 9 in Horry County, S.C., to U.S. 17 in Brunswick County. The parkway -- a six-lane, limited-access highway that parallels the Grand Strand -- ends a few miles before the North Carolina line, causing motorists to use two-lane Hickman Road to access U.S. 17.
The proposed project would provide a more direct connection between U.S. 17 and S.C. 31. The hope is that the parkway would relieve traffic congestion in southwestern Brunswick County -- particularly around Hickman Road.
The environmental study will examine areas proposed highway routes would cross and will push the project closer to state funding, said Jay McInnis, DOT project engineer.
"We want to know what we should take into account when planning the project,"  he said, "The result of that will be where we go."
Once the study is complete, the project -- estimated to cost anywhere from $202 million to $280 million -- will be reviewed by the state and may or may not be granted funding based on a cost-benefit analysis.
Eventually, the linked roadways could become a part of the proposed Interstate 74, which is planned to run from the upper Midwest through North Carolina into South Carolina.

Here's a map of the various routes being studied:

[LM117]

Wilmington is the red-headed stepchild. SC refused NC's request to extend I-20 from Florence to Wilmington and yet they expect NC to extend I-74 to Myrtle Beach. The Carolina Bays Parkway should be an I-x74, not I-74, but I digress...

[Strider]

This July 11 article reports that NCDOT has selected an environmental engineering firm to conduct an environmental study of a an extension of the Carolina Bays Parkway in Brunswick County:

The proposed Carolina Bays Parkway extension has been talked about for more than a decade, but recent progress could expedite the project in coming months. Last month the N.C. Department of Transportation selected an engineering firm to complete the environmental study for the portion of the roadway in North Carolina.
According to the DOT, the extension would link the Carolina Bays Parkway -- also known as S.C. 31 -- from S.C. 9 in Horry County, S.C., to U.S. 17 in Brunswick County. The parkway -- a six-lane, limited-access highway that parallels the Grand Strand -- ends a few miles before the North Carolina line, causing motorists to use two-lane Hickman Road to access U.S. 17.
The proposed project would provide a more direct connection between U.S. 17 and S.C. 31. The hope is that the parkway would relieve traffic congestion in southwestern Brunswick County -- particularly around Hickman Road.
The environmental study will examine areas proposed highway routes would cross and will push the project closer to state funding, said Jay McInnis, DOT project engineer.
"We want to know what we should take into account when planning the project,"  he said, "The result of that will be where we go."
Once the study is complete, the project -- estimated to cost anywhere from $202 million to $280 million -- will be reviewed by the state and may or may not be granted funding based on a cost-benefit analysis.
Eventually, the linked roadways could become a part of the proposed Interstate 74, which is planned to run from the upper Midwest through North Carolina into South Carolina.

Here's a map of the various routes being studied:

Awesome. it could become I-x74. I still think I-74 should just end in Wilmington, but oh well. Looking at the diagram, looks like Alternative "A" is the best choice, but Alternative "F" is shorter and maybe least expensive?

[WashuOtaku]

Wilmington is the red-headed stepchild. SC refused NC's request to extend I-20 from Florence to Wilmington and yet they expect NC to extend I-74 to Myrtle Beach. The Carolina Bays Parkway should be an I-x74, not I-74, but I digress...

Well of course, U.S. Congress mandate it to go into South Carolina.

[LM117]

Wilmington is the red-headed stepchild. SC refused NC's request to extend I-20 from Florence to Wilmington and yet they expect NC to extend I-74 to Myrtle Beach. The Carolina Bays Parkway should be an I-x74, not I-74, but I digress...

Well of course, U.S. Congress mandate it to go into South Carolina.

True, but it still doesn't make any sense. Nobody would use I-74 to go to Myrtle Beach except for those coming from Wilmington and points north on US-17. Everybody else would come in on I-73. Congress really screwed this one up.

[Strider]

Wilmington is the red-headed stepchild. SC refused NC's request to extend I-20 from Florence to Wilmington and yet they expect NC to extend I-74 to Myrtle Beach. The Carolina Bays Parkway should be an I-x74, not I-74, but I digress...

Well of course, U.S. Congress mandate it to go into South Carolina.

True, but it still doesn't make any sense. Nobody would use I-74 to go to Myrtle Beach except for those coming from Wilmington and points north on US-17. Everybody else would come in on I-73. Congress really screwed this one up.

Exactly. Congress really screwed this I-74 fiasco up. Not sure why they want I-74 to go to Myrtle Beach.

[sparker]

They wanted I-74 to go to (or pass) Myrtle Beach not primarily for access to that resort area itself, but because it, in both its first  1991 ISTEA HPC-5 iteration and the first draft of the later "Interstate-ized" edition, provided a continuous corridor for the entire length of US 17 (and/or parts of US 701) from Charleston north to Myrtle Beach and environs.  The problem was it turned inland more or less along US 501 from the Myrtle Beach area, which originally left the coastal section north of US 501 off the corridor map.  When I-73 was initially proposed, it would have used the 1991 corridor definition as its route, turning NW at Myrtle Beach.   When the 73/74 "split but sometimes together" concept was developed and subsequently included in the NHS legislation of 1995, the opportunity to fill this gap presented itself -- so the awkward turn of I-74 from east to southeast to southwest in the SE corner of NC was instituted. 

Since the corridor was truncated to Georgetown (but will likely never extend past the present south end of SC 31), the whole mis-shapen I-74 corridor has become even more absurd!  (The following is a quick "big-toe" dip into the quasi-fictional realm): IMO, a logical solution (assuming the present numbering system remains with us) is this: (1) [eventually] deploy 73 as currently planned NW from Myrtle Beach, (2) take 74 east toward Wilmington along US 74, ending it at the under-construction I-140 junction, (3) re-designate the SC31/Carolina Bays parkway, its planned extension to the NC line, and US 17 north to and around Wilmington via I-140.  One would have to strike some legislative language and add others, but, hey, HPC 5's a piece of amendable legislation, not the revealed word of God (any sneaky congressperson worth his/her salary could do this and be in & out with barely a trace!).  Make (3) an extension of I-140, a 2nd section of I-97, a x73 -- whatever works & looks good on paper.  And that swamp-ridden section of I-74 along NC 211?  If possible, kick it to the curb, or, if enough whining occurs from the gallery, make it a x74 and keep it bottled up in environmental studies for the foreseeable future! 

Back to reality -- the whole 73/74 scheme is a combination of local political will and effective initial PR work -- though not particularly effective follow-up;  although it worked on NCDOT, they were likely predisposed to such a concept -- willing partners in what, overall, was & is a premise with a decidedly shaky foundation.  Like its I-69 "cousin" to the west, it's being addressed as a series of SIU's -- actually delineated as such within NC, and effectively so in the other traversed areas.  And that's the sole way that it'll get done at all -- and while it now seems that there's at least a faint glimmer of hope for the SC I-73 segment (although this project always seems like it's on life support, with its longtime backers always making a big deal whenever a pulse can be felt), attempting to extend this possibly renewed momentum to the other "twin" is a bit of a reach.  The portion of the route paralleling the shore, regardless of which of the two states contains the more active of the SIU's, has always been a product of localized Gordon Gekko-esque avarice; ensuring that the linear length of the Stupid Slogan T-shirt Capital of the Southern World is fully served by an equitable traffic distribution apparatus, independent from but readily serving the masses fed to it by the inland connectors, is the goal here for both the short & long term.  But the coastal SC interests that have always functioned as the "founding fathers" of the whole HPC 5 concept may have made a judgmental error in attempting to be the main, if not sole, recipients of the overall benefits of the twinned corridor.  It's not that it's (just) ethically wrong to exclude the Wilmington area from the corridor concept's benefits -- it's politically misguided, given that NC actually wants to construct Interstate freeways.  While in SC the will might be there -- although even that is in constant danger of flatlining -- the means to do so are dicey at best.  NC certainly doesn't seem to have any qualms about expediting corridors serving its coastal areas -- so it would seem logical to calculate that an extension of the Carolina Bays parkway corridor into NC would be more useful extending north to, let's say, the southern end of I-140 than waiting for a NC 211 upgrade that may be the proverbial bridge too far.  If one requires or even wants a 2nd corridor feeding one's constant need for those tourist dollars, let I-40 (via 140) be that corridor -- it'll draw a separate tourist base from I-73, even providing a more efficient pathway for potential customers from Virginia and beyond! 

Sure, the Myrtle Beach contingent will have to suck it up and share some of the influx with Wilmington and the more nascent Cape Fear resort facilities -- but I've been in retail before, and 50-60% of something is far superior to 100% of nothing!  SC may not have their full-length coastal Interstate any more -- but they can at least make a reasonable amount of lemonade from the lemon that characterizes their section of the 73/74 corridor -- if they play their cards correctly!     

[WashuOtaku]

Wilmington is the red-headed stepchild. SC refused NC's request to extend I-20 from Florence to Wilmington and yet they expect NC to extend I-74 to Myrtle Beach. The Carolina Bays Parkway should be an I-x74, not I-74, but I digress...

Well of course, U.S. Congress mandate it to go into South Carolina.

True, but it still doesn't make any sense. Nobody would use I-74 to go to Myrtle Beach except for those coming from Wilmington and points north on US-17. Everybody else would come in on I-73. Congress really screwed this one up.

To Myrtle Beach from within North Carolina, no and I'm sure (when constructed) it will not be signed that (or possibly Georgetown) till the split around Bolton; current I-74 shows Rockingham/Wilmington along US 74.  Like some interstates, it will serve different purposes in different ways: by giving probably the best access to Brunswick County beaches for those in North Carolina while providing an interstate route between Georgetown and Wilmington. 

All honestly, I-74 shouldn't really exist in the Carolinas.  Could easily redesignate the section Triad to something else, make Carolina Bays Parkway a spur of I-73 and convert the Rockingham-Bolton route into part of an interstate between Charlotte and Wilmington which people really wants.  But this is something everyone on this board has mention as well, so nothing new.

[wdcrft63]

This July 11 article reports that NCDOT has selected an environmental engineering firm to conduct an environmental study of a an extension of the Carolina Bays Parkway in Brunswick County:


Here's a map of the various routes being studied:

If you want to bet, bet on route B. There's been major development including two golf courses along Hickman Road on the NC side of the border, and most of these proposed routes blast right through those developments. The only option is going to be to swing way to the north.

[jwolfer]

Wilmington is the red-headed stepchild. SC refused NC's request to extend I-20 from Florence to Wilmington and yet they expect NC to extend I-74 to Myrtle Beach. The Carolina Bays Parkway should be an I-x74, not I-74, but I digress...

I-20 to Myrtle Beach makes more sense to me than I-74 that will never be completed between NC and Cincinnati.

With that being said the US74 corridor should be an interstate from I-26 to Wilmington... but this is getting into fantasy territory

[LM117]

Wilmington is the red-headed stepchild. SC refused NC's request to extend I-20 from Florence to Wilmington and yet they expect NC to extend I-74 to Myrtle Beach. The Carolina Bays Parkway should be an I-x74, not I-74, but I digress...

With that being said the US74 corridor should be an interstate from I-26 to Wilmington... but this is getting into fantasy territory

Not exactly. It's on NC's radar.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article9166415.html

McCrory also targeted two other highways to be upgraded to interstate standards: U.S. 74 from Asheville through Charlotte to Wilmington, and U.S. 70 in the eastern part of the state.

The whole route from Wilmington to I-26 would nost likely carry multiple designations due to I-74's routing. Other than I-74 from somewhere near Bolton where it turns towards Shallotte and SC to Rockingham, it would have to be an I-x74 from Bolton to Wilmington, another I-x74 from Rockingham to I-277 in Charlotte using the Monroe Bypass and an upgraded US-74/Independence Blvd, and an I-x26 from I-26 in Columbus to I-85 near Kings Mountain. Traffic would have to use I-485 to get from one half of the corridor to the other (except for those whose destination is Charlotte).

The biggest hangup is whether or not FHWA would approve the Monroe Bypass as an interstate since it's being built as a toll road. I believe that's why NC-540 around Raleigh isn't I-540.

[sparker]

If there are measures in place with the Monroe Bypass to make it toll-free once the facility's financing has been paid off, it likely would gain FHWA approval as a part of an Interstate corridor.  Since I for one haven't seen the authorizing legislation, I have no idea if this is the case or not.  Maybe one of you more local/NC posters can enlighten?

[jwolfer]

Wilmington is the red-headed stepchild. SC refused NC's request to extend I-20 from Florence to Wilmington and yet they expect NC to extend I-74 to Myrtle Beach. The Carolina Bays Parkway should be an I-x74, not I-74, but I digress...

With that being said the US74 corridor should be an interstate from I-26 to Wilmington... but this is getting into fantasy territory

Not exactly. It's on NC's radar.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article9166415.html

McCrory also targeted two other highways to be upgraded to interstate standards: U.S. 74 from Asheville through Charlotte to Wilmington, and U.S. 70 in the eastern part of the state.

The whole route from Wilmington to I-26 would nost likely carry multiple designations due to I-74's routing. Other than I-74 from somewhere near Bolton where it turns towards Shallotte and SC to Rockingham, it would have to be an I-x74 from Bolton to Wilmington, another I-x74 from Rockingham to I-277 in Charlotte using the Monroe Bypass and an upgraded US-74/Independence Blvd, and an I-x26 from I-26 in Columbus to I-85 near Kings Mountain. Traffic would have to use I-485 to get from one half of the corridor to the other (except for those whose destination is Charlotte).

The biggest hangup is whether or not FHWA would approve the Monroe Bypass as an interstate since it's being built as a toll road. I believe that's why NC-540 around Raleigh isn't I-540.

I like I-28 better than 74.. but I am not gonna loose sleep over it.

[sparker]

As was disclosed in the (eventually) I-42/I-87 numbering circus, there is currently no NC 36 state route.  Given NCDOT's particular priorities, and the fact that 36 is an entirely appropriate number for this location within the I-grid, I'd be willing to bet that if & when the dust clears regarding a I-26-to-Rockingham corridor, they'll submit I-36 as their preferred designation.

[Strider]

They wanted I-74 to go to (or pass) Myrtle Beach not primarily for access to that resort area itself, but because it, in both its first  1991 ISTEA HPC-5 iteration and the first draft of the later "Interstate-ized" edition, provided a continuous corridor for the entire length of US 17 (and/or parts of US 701) from Charleston north to Myrtle Beach and environs.  The problem was it turned inland more or less along US 501 from the Myrtle Beach area, which originally left the coastal section north of US 501 off the corridor map.  When I-73 was initially proposed, it would have used the 1991 corridor definition as its route, turning NW at Myrtle Beach.   When the 73/74 "split but sometimes together" concept was developed and subsequently included in the NHS legislation of 1995, the opportunity to fill this gap presented itself -- so the awkward turn of I-74 from east to southeast to southwest in the SE corner of NC was instituted. 

Since the corridor was truncated to Georgetown (but will likely never extend past the present south end of SC 31), the whole mis-shapen I-74 corridor has become even more absurd!  (The following is a quick "big-toe" dip into the quasi-fictional realm): IMO, a logical solution (assuming the present numbering system remains with us) is this: (1) [eventually] deploy 73 as currently planned NW from Myrtle Beach, (2) take 74 east toward Wilmington along US 74, ending it at the under-construction I-140 junction, (3) re-designate the SC31/Carolina Bays parkway, its planned extension to the NC line, and US 17 north to and around Wilmington via I-140.  One would have to strike some legislative language and add others, but, hey, HPC 5's a piece of amendable legislation, not the revealed word of God (any sneaky congressperson worth his/her salary could do this and be in & out with barely a trace!).  Make (3) an extension of I-140, a 2nd section of I-97, a x73 -- whatever works & looks good on paper.  And that swamp-ridden section of I-74 along NC 211?  If possible, kick it to the curb, or, if enough whining occurs from the gallery, make it a x74 and keep it bottled up in environmental studies for the foreseeable future! 

Back to reality -- the whole 73/74 scheme is a combination of local political will and effective initial PR work -- though not particularly effective follow-up;  although it worked on NCDOT, they were likely predisposed to such a concept -- willing partners in what, overall, was & is a premise with a decidedly shaky foundation.  Like its I-69 "cousin" to the west, it's being addressed as a series of SIU's -- actually delineated as such within NC, and effectively so in the other traversed areas.  And that's the sole way that it'll get done at all -- and while it now seems that there's at least a faint glimmer of hope for the SC I-73 segment (although this project always seems like it's on life support, with its longtime backers always making a big deal whenever a pulse can be felt), attempting to extend this possibly renewed momentum to the other "twin" is a bit of a reach.  The portion of the route paralleling the shore, regardless of which of the two states contains the more active of the SIU's, has always been a product of localized Gordon Gekko-esque avarice; ensuring that the linear length of the Stupid Slogan T-shirt Capital of the Southern World is fully served by an equitable traffic distribution apparatus, independent from but readily serving the masses fed to it by the inland connectors, is the goal here for both the short & long term.  But the coastal SC interests that have always functioned as the "founding fathers" of the whole HPC 5 concept may have made a judgmental error in attempting to be the main, if not sole, recipients of the overall benefits of the twinned corridor.  It's not that it's (just) ethically wrong to exclude the Wilmington area from the corridor concept's benefits -- it's politically misguided, given that NC actually wants to construct Interstate freeways.  While in SC the will might be there -- although even that is in constant danger of flatlining -- the means to do so are dicey at best.  NC certainly doesn't seem to have any qualms about expediting corridors serving its coastal areas -- so it would seem logical to calculate that an extension of the Carolina Bays parkway corridor into NC would be more useful extending north to, let's say, the southern end of I-140 than waiting for a NC 211 upgrade that may be the proverbial bridge too far.  If one requires or even wants a 2nd corridor feeding one's constant need for those tourist dollars, let I-40 (via 140) be that corridor -- it'll draw a separate tourist base from I-73, even providing a more efficient pathway for potential customers from Virginia and beyond! 

Sure, the Myrtle Beach contingent will have to suck it up and share some of the influx with Wilmington and the more nascent Cape Fear resort facilities -- but I've been in retail before, and 50-60% of something is far superior to 100% of nothing!  SC may not have their full-length coastal Interstate any more -- but they can at least make a reasonable amount of lemonade from the lemon that characterizes their section of the 73/74 corridor -- if they play their cards correctly!     

Good words.

I only support I-73 because I know that building one interstate will connect MB with the Triad and Roanoke Valley. That is the only section of I-73 I want to see being built. I don't really want I-74 around. I agree they should just end I-74 in Wilmington like others mention/suggested, or just eliminate I-74 and keep I-73. Myrtle Beach does not need two interstates to end at the same place. That is what bothers me about I-74 routing.

SC has been attempting to build I-73 and lately they seemed to get it going, as of last week or two, I-73 Permit is ready to be issued from the US Corps of Engineering, and if the environmentalists are fine with it.. they are going to try to build it as a toll road because that is what it seems likely to be heading that direction.

I just hope I-74 just ends in Wilmington and the Bays Parkway Extension is designed I-x74, or US 17.

[wdcrft63]

I only support I-73 because I know that building one interstate will connect MB with the Triad and Roanoke Valley. That is the only section of I-73 I want to see being built. I don't really want I-74 around. I agree they should just end I-74 in Wilmington like others mention/suggested, or just eliminate I-74 and keep I-73. Myrtle Beach does not need two interstates to end at the same place. That is what bothers me about I-74 routing.

SC has been attempting to build I-73 and lately they seemed to get it going, as of last week or two, I-73 Permit is ready to be issued from the US Corps of Engineering, and if the environmentalists are fine with it.. they are going to try to build it as a toll road because that is what it seems likely to be heading that direction.

I just hope I-74 just ends in Wilmington and the Bays Parkway Extension is designed I-x74, or US 17.

If I-74 ends at Wilmington, then an upgrade of US 17 could be an extension of I-140.

[WashuOtaku]

Wilmington is the red-headed stepchild. SC refused NC's request to extend I-20 from Florence to Wilmington and yet they expect NC to extend I-74 to Myrtle Beach. The Carolina Bays Parkway should be an I-x74, not I-74, but I digress...

I-20 to Myrtle Beach makes more sense to me than I-74 that will never be completed between NC and Cincinnati.

With that being said the US74 corridor should be an interstate from I-26 to Wilmington... but this is getting into fantasy territory

Anytime someone mentions the whole "never connect to Cincinnati" my response is so what?  Do you really think the Carolinas care if it connects there or not?  If this is an issue, contact your local congressman to change it.

As for US 74 corridor, that has been on North Carolina sights for many years, which is why it is already a four-lane divided highway.  The highway has progressed to what is needed for now and immediate future, and unless they can also get Congress to set it up as an Interstate corridor, it will continue to chug-along along the slow lane.

[WashuOtaku]

The whole route from Wilmington to I-26 would nost likely carry multiple designations due to I-74's routing. Other than I-74 from somewhere near Bolton where it turns towards Shallotte and SC to Rockingham, it would have to be an I-x74 from Bolton to Wilmington, another I-x74 from Rockingham to I-277 in Charlotte using the Monroe Bypass and an upgraded US-74/Independence Blvd, and an I-x26 from I-26 in Columbus to I-85 near Kings Mountain. Traffic would have to use I-485 to get from one half of the corridor to the other (except for those whose destination is Charlotte).

The biggest hangup is whether or not FHWA would approve the Monroe Bypass as an interstate since it's being built as a toll road. I believe that's why NC-540 around Raleigh isn't I-540.

US 74 between I-277 and I-485 is mostly an expressway and current construction jobs are building interchanges but also do not have control access along the route.  NCDOT is not going to convert that section to a full freeway.  So any interstate designation would begin, end or continue along I-485 in Charlotte.

I believe exceptions can be made like I-185 in South Carolina in regards of any interstate being overlapped on a toll road, but why fight that battle.

[WashuOtaku]

I only support I-73 because I know that building one interstate will connect MB with the Triad and Roanoke Valley. That is the only section of I-73 I want to see being built. I don't really want I-74 around. I agree they should just end I-74 in Wilmington like others mention/suggested, or just eliminate I-74 and keep I-73. Myrtle Beach does not need two interstates to end at the same place. That is what bothers me about I-74 routing.

SC has been attempting to build I-73 and lately they seemed to get it going, as of last week or two, I-73 Permit is ready to be issued from the US Corps of Engineering, and if the environmentalists are fine with it.. they are going to try to build it as a toll road because that is what it seems likely to be heading that direction.

I just hope I-74 just ends in Wilmington and the Bays Parkway Extension is designed I-x74, or US 17.

If I-74 ends at Wilmington, then an upgrade of US 17 could be an extension of I-140.

You forgot about the Cape Fear Crossing.

Don't see NCDOT converting US 17 to interstate, no need; but I can see US 74/US 76 converting to full interstate and maybe getting a spur designation (which makes more sense).

[bob7374]

I only support I-73 because I know that building one interstate will connect MB with the Triad and Roanoke Valley. That is the only section of I-73 I want to see being built. I don't really want I-74 around. I agree they should just end I-74 in Wilmington like others mention/suggested, or just eliminate I-74 and keep I-73. Myrtle Beach does not need two interstates to end at the same place. That is what bothers me about I-74 routing.

SC has been attempting to build I-73 and lately they seemed to get it going, as of last week or two, I-73 Permit is ready to be issued from the US Corps of Engineering, and if the environmentalists are fine with it.. they are going to try to build it as a toll road because that is what it seems likely to be heading that direction.

I just hope I-74 just ends in Wilmington and the Bays Parkway Extension is designed I-x74, or US 17.

If I-74 ends at Wilmington, then an upgrade of US 17 could be an extension of I-140.

You forgot about the Cape Fear Crossing.

Don't see NCDOT converting US 17 to interstate, no need; but I can see US 74/US 76 converting to full interstate and maybe getting a spur designation (which makes more sense).

NCDOT's list of potential 2018-2027 STIP projects seem to confirm your view. There are projects to upgrade portions of US 74-76 to interstate status (as well as US 74 between the Monroe Connector and Rockingham) while for US 17 between Wilmington and the SC Border the projects listed are for mainly closing off some cross streets and/or creating more Superstreet intersections. The list also makes no mention of any project that would build I-74 through Brunswick County from Whiteville to US 17, seemingly creating more incentive to end I-74 in Wilmington.

[LM117]

I only support I-73 because I know that building one interstate will connect MB with the Triad and Roanoke Valley. That is the only section of I-73 I want to see being built. I don't really want I-74 around. I agree they should just end I-74 in Wilmington like others mention/suggested, or just eliminate I-74 and keep I-73. Myrtle Beach does not need two interstates to end at the same place. That is what bothers me about I-74 routing.

SC has been attempting to build I-73 and lately they seemed to get it going, as of last week or two, I-73 Permit is ready to be issued from the US Corps of Engineering, and if the environmentalists are fine with it.. they are going to try to build it as a toll road because that is what it seems likely to be heading that direction.

I just hope I-74 just ends in Wilmington and the Bays Parkway Extension is designed I-x74, or US 17.

If I-74 ends at Wilmington, then an upgrade of US 17 could be an extension of I-140.

You forgot about the Cape Fear Crossing.

Don't see NCDOT converting US 17 to interstate, no need; but I can see US 74/US 76 converting to full interstate and maybe getting a spur designation (which makes more sense).

The list also makes no mention of any project that would build I-74 through Brunswick County from Whiteville to US 17, seemingly creating more incentive to end I-74 in Wilmington.

Good.

[CanesFan27]

I only support I-73 because I know that building one interstate will connect MB with the Triad and Roanoke Valley. That is the only section of I-73 I want to see being built. I don't really want I-74 around. I agree they should just end I-74 in Wilmington like others mention/suggested, or just eliminate I-74 and keep I-73. Myrtle Beach does not need two interstates to end at the same place. That is what bothers me about I-74 routing.

SC has been attempting to build I-73 and lately they seemed to get it going, as of last week or two, I-73 Permit is ready to be issued from the US Corps of Engineering, and if the environmentalists are fine with it.. they are going to try to build it as a toll road because that is what it seems likely to be heading that direction.

I just hope I-74 just ends in Wilmington and the Bays Parkway Extension is designed I-x74, or US 17.

If I-74 ends at Wilmington, then an upgrade of US 17 could be an extension of I-140.

You forgot about the Cape Fear Crossing.

Don't see NCDOT converting US 17 to interstate, no need; but I can see US 74/US 76 converting to full interstate and maybe getting a spur designation (which makes more sense).

The list also makes no mention of any project that would build I-74 through Brunswick County from Whiteville to US 17, seemingly creating more incentive to end I-74 in Wilmington.

Good.

Let's not put the cart before the horse here.  I don't see an incentive as Bob is just speculating.  I can easily counter and say that 17 is the last piece of the puzzle, that the movement on the Carolina Bays parkway "seemingly creates more incentive to end I-74 in Myrtle Beach."

[WashuOtaku]

NCDOT's list of potential 2018-2027 STIP projects seem to confirm your view. There are projects to upgrade portions of US 74-76 to interstate status (as well as US 74 between the Monroe Connector and Rockingham) while for US 17 between Wilmington and the SC Border the projects listed are for mainly closing off some cross streets and/or creating more Superstreet intersections. The list also makes no mention of any project that would build I-74 through Brunswick County from Whiteville to US 17, seemingly creating more incentive to end I-74 in Wilmington.

Just because NCDOT confirms my point of view doesn't mean they are also going reroute I-74 to Wilmington.  The route through the Green Swamp is likely going to be the last segment to be built of I-74 in North Carolina and I'm sure it ranks too low to bother trying to get funding the next few years.

A reminder, unless South Carolina gives up on I-74 or Congress changes everything, I-74 is NOT going to Wilmington.