CHARLESTON, S.C. - State highway commissioners
have given initial approval to a $200 million project to widen one
of the deadliest stretches of road in South Carolina.
The project that would turn U.S. Highway 17 between Jacksonboro
and Gardens Corner into a four-lane highway.
The state Infrastructure Bank must now decide whether to give the
project a $90 million grant. The bank also is being asked to provide
a $48 million loan for the project.
"I feel very confident about it because the commissioners have
recognized it as a priority," said state Rep. Catherine Ceips. "This
highway project has support from Beaufort to Charleston to the
commissioners. It is all about safety, and this is one of the most
dangerous roads in South Carolina."
Thirty-four people have been killed and hundreds injured on the
stretch of highway since 1997.
Commissioners also approved the project's design, which won't
include controversial 100-foot buffers on either side of the
highway.
While some large landowners and environmentalists supported the
buffers, namely because the highway runs through the environmentally
sensitive ACE Basin. But landowners in Colleton County opposed them,
saying they would limit development in the growing county.
Highway Commissioner Bob Harrell estimated the buffers would have
added as much as $30 million to the project.
"If they don't even know the cost, then they are just opposing
them on principle," said Dana Beach, executive director of the
Coastal Conservation League. "The consensus all along on this one
was to keep the highway as scenic and as beautiful as possible."
Colleton County also opposes contributing any money to the
project. The county would have to repay $26 million of an
Infrastructure Bank loan.
"It needs to be done for the safety of the people, but I don't
think we need to tax our people $20 million over 20 years when I
thought the money was there to start with," said Colleton County
Councilman Gene Whetsell.
But for parents David and Dana Gasque it's all too little too
late. Their son was killed in a two-car crash on the highway and
with each subsequent death, the couple pushes harder for change.
"This road kind of keeps reminding us," Gasque said. "I think the
project's going in the right direction. I really do."
