Associated Press
You can attend meetings, go online, take a roadside interview or perhaps mail in a survey if you want your say in where the proposed $2 billion Interstate 73 will be built in South Carolina.
"The public needs a transparent process on this. It's just too important to the state of South Carolina to come up with any last minute surprises," said Debbie Harwell, a spokeswoman for the I-73 study.
Highway planners are studying 2,200 square miles in Marlboro, Dillon, Marion and Horry counties as they consider routes for the expressway that will one day link the Grand Strand with Michigan.
The highway will provide an easier way to move tourists into Myrtle Beach and another escape route for hurricane evacuations.
The Department of Transportation will conduct roadside surveys during the next two weeks in Horry County. The surveys will take only about 90 seconds. If traffic begins to back up, motorists will be handed a survey they can mail to the department, Harwell said.
Public meetings will be held Sept. 18 in Marion and Sept. 21 in Conway. Harwell said the meetings will be advertised on billboards and with fliers stuffed in grocery bags in supermarkets.
In addition, folks who want to comment on the expressway can go online to www.i73insc.com and can simply e-mail concerns or thoughts. There is also a project hotline at 1-866-473-4672 where people can get information.
Planners hope to have a draft environmental impact statement completed and hold public hearings on the proposed route by the fall of next year.
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