Gov. Henry McMaster has come up with a plan that may run into major political problems.

He wants SC lawmakers to set aside $300 million in federal covid relief and surplus tax money to pay for an Interstate 73 link between I-95 and Myrtle Beach.

Lawmakers from Lexington County and other parts of the state say a better use of highway money is to build roads in areas congested by the 1 million people who have moved to SC since 2000.

Also opposed are envrionmentalists, outdoor sports enthusiasts and businessses along a proposed route.

The governor last month asked lawmakers to spend another $300 million to expand I-26 to 6 lanes from Charleston to Lexington County.

Most of the current route from I-95 to the beach is 4 lanes.

From September to May its 125 miles has only light traffic.

60 miles of a new I-73 will cost an estimated $1.6 billion, Jeffrey Collins of the Associated Press reported.

McMaster and other supporters hope that by building the 1st segment, the rest of the interstate will be built.

How this will happen was not explained.

The project has been an environmental and political football for more than a decade.

Advocates such as the Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce, want it built through protected areas such as the Gunter’s Island conservation preserve east of Brittons Neck in Horry County.

The State newspaper as far back as 2015 reported that Highway Commissioner Mike Wooten emailed, “Timing is everything and we don’t need to give the intervening groups time to produce the drivel they will put out questioning the results.”

The intervening groups include The Coastal Conservation League and area naturalists, environmentalists, fishers and hunters who have been concerned about Gunter’s Island.

Only Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina have shown any interest in building the stand-alone interstate.

So far only 100 miles of I-73 run over existing and new freeways from Rockingham to near Greensboro, NC.

The first segment of I-73 would run from I-95 in Dillon County south of Latta to US 501.

The project has permits and has been successfully defended in court,state officials said. All that’s needed is the money.

Tourism boosters and highway builders that you can’t get to the beach without traffic lights and small towns where speed limits drop and police wait with radar guns.

Environmentalists have opposed the road as unneeded and say it would destroy wetlands and farms.

Bypasses of some of the most congested roads in and leading to Myrtle Beach have been built.

The General Assembly must approve the money after a likely tough fight, the AP’s Collins predicted.