In about a month, the final preferred route for the southern leg of Interstate 73 will be revealed, followed by public hearings on it two weeks later.

"We know everybody wants to know where that preferred route is, and we're working just as hard as we can to give them that," said Mitchell Metts, I-73 project manager at the state Department of Transportation.

The choice will be a relief to some who have been in the road's path since the three proposed routes were revealed in February 2005. Those still in the path will at least have certainty.

"Instead of having three sets of people confused and concerned, we'll have one set of people confused and concerned," said state Rep. Nelson Hardwick, R-Surfside Beach.

Hardwick, who is from Cool Spring near Aynor and has family in the possible path of the road, has been trying to mediate between affected residents and highway officials for a route that is least disruptive to people.

I-73 will be Horry County's first interstate highway connection. The southern leg runs the 60 miles from Interstate 95 near Latta to S.C. 22 near Conway.

Two main possible paths with several variations were revealed last year, roughly north and south of Aynor.

The DOT said last winter it expected to have its final preferred route in May, and that is still on track, Metts said.

"We've still got a lot of work to do," and no date is set, Metts said.

But when the final preferred path is announced, "that will pave the way for the location public hearings to be done."

Those could begin two weeks after the road path is announced.

Metts said that he expects hearings on the project will be held in Horry, Marion and Dillon counties.

Metts stressed that the final preferred path will still have wiggle room and that people should take advantage of the hearings if they have concerns about the location.

The DOT will make more detailed studies and continue to improve the path of the road along the preferred route, he said.

"The biggest concern we continue to hear is from the farmers," Metts said.

They fear splitting up farms, which would force them to travel long distances to get to the other part of their property, he said.

There are ways to lessen the effects of that kind of property line split, Metts said.

However, the road will inevitably affect farms, Metts said, because most of the land in the path of I-73 is either farmland or wetland.

Metts said they are still on track to finish the plans and get permits in three years. Several suggested routes for the 30-mile northern portion from I-95 into North Carolina are expected to be made public in July, Metts said.