With the passage of a $388 billion spending bill by the U.S. House and then the U.S. Senate on Saturday, several Pee Dee communities are expected to receive federal funding for projects, including the construction of Interstate 73.

The House approved the bill with a 344-51 vote. The Senate voted 65-30 in favor of the bill, which still must be signed by President George W. Bush. That is expected to happen sometime after Wednesday as details in the bill are ironed out.

A press release from the office of Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., said the omnibus spending bill contains $4 million in funding for the proposed Interstate 73, the planned interstate that will run from Detroit to Myrtle Beach.

Spratt spokesman Chuck Fant said the $4 million for I-73 could be used for general purposes.

Spratt’s office also announced that $1.5 million is included in the spending bill to upgrade the interchange at Interstate 95 and S.C. 327 north of Florence.

Upgrading the interchange would include expanding it to handle a larger volume of traffic, with new ramps and more lanes.

“Expanding the interchange will ensure that tourists can reach the beach safely and easily,” Spratt said in the release.

The release also pointed out that more than 42,000 vehicles travel that stretch of I-95 daily. And the interchange, recently named in honor of Pee Dee Electric Cooperative Chairman Robert W. Williams Jr., is adjacent to the new 700-acre Pee Dee Touchstone Energy Commerce City industrial park.

According to a press release from the office of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the largest amounts in the bill include money to operate prisons in Bennettsville and Williamsburg County.

The amount earmarked for the activation of the new prison in Bennettsville is $39 million; for the prison opening in Williamsburg County, $39,470,000.

The release from Graham’s office also detailed other local projects included for funding in the spending bill passed Saturday.

In Florence County, in addition to the money for the I-95 interchange, $500,000 is included for a mobile emergency operations command vehicle for the city of Florence and $50,000 to the county’s U.S. Department of Agriculture for animal waste treatment.

The Dillon County Airport is slated to receive $1 million from the bill to buy property and pay for runway construction. The Williamsburg County Library is in line to get $50,000 for books, materials and computers.

Money for construction of the Bishopville bypass in Lee County, $1.5 million, is included in the bill. Also included is $97,000 for the Lee County Public Library for facilities expansion and relocation.

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