The S.C. State Ports Authority will not help pay the $150 million bill to widen U.S. 17, citing other capital needs in Charleston and concerns about diverting money raised strictly for port development, according to a letter sent by the authority's CEO to a state representative.

With a mounting number of traffic deaths from Gardens Corner to Jacksonboro in Colleton County, 33 since 1997, the state has fast-tracked permitting and design plans for the 22-mile widening effort with hopes to begin construction in February.

Local and state officials have suggested that the Ports Authority help foot the bill, which some have put at as high as $200 million, because of the highway's use as a connector between Interstate 95 and the Port of Charleston.

But Bernard Groseclose, the authority's president and CEO, responded this week, noting that U.S. 17 is important for port traffic, but that studies in 2002 and 2003 for the Department of Commerce determined that shipping trucks often used by ports account for less than a third of the daily truck traffic on U.S. 17.

"Nevertheless, the Ports Authority recognizes the serious safety and maintenance issues identified and fully supports efforts to realize timely and effective solutions," he wrote in a letter to state Rep. Catherine Ceips, R-Beaufort.

Ceips said she asked Groseclose last week to consider contributing to the widening effort.

"That's one stone I didn't want to leave unturned," she said. "I'm looking for money anywhere I can find it."

But that support cannot include a financial contribution, Groseclose wrote, noting bond restrictions on revenue use for non-port facilities and capital improvement needs with which the Charleston port already is struggling.

The authority provided $45 million for the Arthur Ravenel Bridge crossing the Cooper River after it was determined to be a port facility because it spans the port's shipping channel, said Byron Miller, authority spokesman.

Beaufort County Council Chairman Weston Newton said Thursday that he hoped the legislature still could encourage the authority to participate.

"I would like to think that's not the final answer from the Ports Authority," he said.

The funding plan for the project, expected to be presented to the state Transportation Commission on Sept. 15, includes:

$90 million in grant funding from the State Infrastructure Bank;

$46 million in borrowing from the bank that would be paid back through a $3 million contribution by the Transportation Department and a $1.3 million buy-in between Beaufort and Colleton counties and the Lowcountry Council of Governments;

$10 million earmarked for the project in federal highway funding;

$14 million in previously announced allocations to replace the Combahee River Bridge and to improve the S.C. 64 intersection; and

$2 million contributed by Beaufort County through developer fees.

Following presentations last month regarding the payment plan, Beaufort and Colleton county officials suggested the state seek funding from other sources, possibly from the authority or from a direct allocation by the legislature.

"We're all looking for ways to come up with funding," Newton said. "Our alternative is property taxes."