It's great news that the N.C. Department of Transportation will study a link between U.S. 17 near Shallotte, N.C., and Highway 57 in Horry County. Such a road, if found feasible, would rescue the folks who live on or near Hickman Road in southern Brunswick County, N.C., from quality-of-life erosion.

The problem: Highway 57's southern terminus at S.C. 9 is a short hop from the northern terminus of S.C. 31. So motorists going to and coming from North Carolina use it as a shortcut around Little River. But Hickman Road was not designed to handle heavy traffic.

As we've seen elsewhere in the coastal Carolinas, intelligently placed connectors can unclog bottlenecks while hastening traffic flow. This one would be doubly attractive because it would aid bi-state tourism promotion. The hope must be N.C. DOT's decision to study the connector results in quick construction.