Study: Extending Dave Lyle Blvd. would net $2.4 billion annually, thousands of jobs

Extending Dave Lyle Boulevard from Rock Hill into Lancaster County would result in almost $2.4 billion in “annual economic output,” attracting more than 20,000 new jobs each year, according to a study by a Winthrop University economist.

Such a project connecting Interstate 77 and U.S. 521, the 21-page report concludes, “would provide unparalleled economic opportunity for York and Lancaster counties involving more jobs (and) increased tax dollars.”

Local and state officials have been discussing whether to extend Dave Lyle Boulevard – and how to pay the estimated $225 million price – for more than 15 years.

Laura Ullrich, an associate professor of economics, and Lucy Gallo, a managing principal with Development Planning & Financing Group Inc., released their update Monday of a 2013 study of how extending Dave Lyle Boulevard would affect the local economy. While the first study was limited to market access, the report released Monday went deeper into the economic effect on York and Lancaster counties.

The latest study goes into detail about estimates of jobs and income, through construction of the new highway, more homes and other added economic activity along the corridor, according to a Winthrop news release.

According to Ullrich and Gallo, building a 9-mile connector between I-77 and U.S. 521 would:

▪ Create more than 1,000 jobs a year, on average, as well as a “cumulative economic output of more than $3 billion” while the highway was being built.

▪ Attract more than 20,000 new jobs and generate almost $2.4 billion in total economic development each year.

“These economic and fiscal benefits represent only a portion of the potential impacts,” Ullrich and Gallo wrote, “as additional retail, distribution and perhaps high-tech manufacturing and research uses are also likely to occur along the corridor.”

Even if extending the boulevard would be an economic winner for the area, the question remains how to pay for it.

A project the size of extending Dave Lyle Boulevard likely will require both federal and state transportation money, said Ralph Norman, president of the Warren Norman Co., one of York County’s largest developers.

“It’s definitely got usable land on both sides” of the route, said Norman, a Republican who also represents part of York County in the S.C. House. “It’s an economic engine waiting to happen.”

Finding state money to help pay for the project might come back up when the Legislature reconvenes in January, but road money is scarce, despite lawmakers’ spending $216 million this year for statewide road maintenance.

“There’s not enough funding to go around the state,” Norman said. “There’s not close to enough to fund the existing roadways.”

State money for projects this size usually would come from the State Infrastructure Bank, which controls money set aside for major transportation construction.

The Catawba Indian Nation long has supported extending Dave Lyle Boulevard because it would provide easier access to the tribe’s reservation in eastern York County. The Catawbas have sought federal money for roads to supplement state and county roads that serve tribal or other federal lands, but they can’t secure that money until money from other sources is in place to ensure the road’s completion.

“The project would provide economic opportunity as well as easier access to the Nation’s lands,” Catawba Chief Bill Harris said. “As the Winthrop study shows, the impact is huge for all of York County when this project is completed.

“When a project is good for all, then that means it needs all to be supportive.”

Extending Dave Lyle Boulevard also would increase driver safety, make it easier to get around the region and “improve the quality of life and general welfare of the public,” the Winthrop report finds.

When conducting the study, Ullrich and Gallo assumed shoppers do business within 20 minutes of their homes; that means much of the “growth potential” of extending the highway “would otherwise be lost to North Carolina,” the report concluded, “particularly to southern Mecklenburg County, the Ballantyne area and fast-growing southwestern Union County, North Carolina.”

York County could take in more than $45 million in tax revenue over the first 25 years, the study found, and Lancaster County could receive more than $48 million.

“The additional sales tax revenue for the state of South Carolina could amount to $1.3 billion,” the Winthrop study stated.

This story was originally published July 20, 2015 at 3:24 PM with the headline "Study: Extending Dave Lyle Blvd. would net $2.4 billion annually, thousands of jobs."