Two top road congestion spots in York County, on I-77, will get almost $75 million.
Almost $75 million in I-77 funding is on the way to improve busy interchanges in Rock Hill and Fort Mill.
On Tuesday the state transportation infrastructure board approved $362 million in funding for projects in Beaufort, Charleston, Jasper, Greenwood and York counties. The York County portion is $74.6 million for two projects.
Exit 85 (S.C. 160) gets $42.12 million and Exit 82 (Cherry/Celanese roads) gets $32.49 million. York County will provide matches of $7.44 million for Exit 85 and $5.73 million for Exit 82.
Another round of infrastructure bank funding could be awarded later this year, which could involve Exit 90 at Carowinds.
“This will bring more growth,” said U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman. “This will bring more tax dollars.”
The state infrastructure bank assists with large transportation projects in South Carolina. Loans and other financing options are provided. The infrastructure bank chooses projects on several criteria. The ability of projects to promote economic development is key.
York County applied for $160 million in I-77 interchange funding through the state infrastructure bank. The application included work at the Carowinds and S.C. 160 exits in Fort Mill, and at Cherry/Celanese roads in Rock Hill. York County committed a $30 million match as part of the application, paid for through gas tax revenue.
S.C. Rep. Gary Simrill from Rock Hill serves on the state infrastructure bank, and on the Rock Hill-Fort Mill Area Transportation Study policy committee that allocates federal transportation dollars. The transportation bank, he said, is a key piece of the state transportation funding puzzle
“It’s a way to serve as a catalyst to make sure roads that are needed, are funded now,” he said.
In recent months county officials stated it was difficult to move forward with road plans with uncertainty surrounding the I-77 interchange funding. Once the announcement was made, those same officials said the almost $75 million will help not only the two I-77 interchanges but in freeing up that same amount of money for other roads.
“It means less time sitting behind the steering wheel and more time at home with family, or at work doing things other than wasting time sitting in traffic,” said S.C. Sen. Wes Climer, another RFATS policy board member.
Business traffic
A large road project at S.C. 160 is well into the planning phase.
A public meeting was held. Recent cost estimates put improvements there as high as $73 million. Infrastructure bank assistance in York County could halve the seven or eight years of debt the RFATS would need to pay, officials with that group said in late May.
The S.C. 160 interchange is the top listed priority for improvement through RFATS. Businesses in the Kingsley and Baxter area have been vocal in their call for traffic improvements, RFATS leaders say.
The Cherry and Celanese intersection in Rock Hill has for years ranked at or near the top of most congested areas in York County.
The infrastructure bank money is big news for business, officials say.
“It really is for the economic engine that has been created in York County over the past decade,” said S.C. Rep. Raye Felder
Rock Hill has the Carolina Panthers coming with their headquarters and a separate, new interchange off I-77 (it got almost $35 million in federal money). Downtown Rock Hill has a wave of downtown revitalization where former mill sites are becoming apartments, restaurants and retail. Fort Mill has multiple corporate headquarters sites once interstate drivers get past of the largest tourism draws in the region, Carowinds.
“These are businesses everybody would want,” Norman said.
Even with those successes, Felder said, there are relatively few ways to cross the Catawba River by car or truck.
“The economic development of our entire region depends on accessibility on and off interstate 77,” she said.
Simrill and others say it’s critical to keep infrastructure improvements on pace with that business and community growth. The infrastructure bank certainly helps.
“It goes a long way in unifying what we have fought for,” Simrill said.
Impact of COVID-19
The decision comes amid concern for road funding brought on by COVID-19. Coronavirus social distancing measures shut down or hampered many businesses since mid-March. Fewer people travelled roads, meaning less gas and fewer gas tax dollars.
In May the South Carolina Department of Transportation forecasted a $78 million funding gap April through July due to coronavirus impacts to transportation. The figure was $54 million less in gas tax and $24 million less in vehicle sales tax. That money impacts interstates, bridges, rural highways and more statewide.
Traffic was down 20% for March, 45% for April and 24% for May compared to a year ago, according to the agency.
Simrill said the recent infrastructure bank decision came amid a 38% cut to revenue the bank anticipated prior to the coronavirus pandemic. The group had planned to allocate up to $650 million statewide. They cut it to $490 million.
“We decided to be as cautious as we could,” Simrill said, “and conservative as we should be.”
The board could take up funding requests again in November or December. Money for Carowinds could be part of that discussion.
“None of the projects that were on that list were denied,” Simrill said. “They were delayed.”
Road work schedule
Felder said the infrastructure bank decision brought a good day for York County.
“An even greater day will be the day we move dirt,” she said.
The S.C. 160 work in Fort Mill is probably two or three years ahead of the Rock Hill interchange. The S.C. 160 work will head into final design, followed by right-of-way acquisition and construction. The most recent estimates put the Fort Mill project at a 2024 completion.
Mayors John Gettys in Rock Hill and Guynn Savage in Fort Mill both sit — they’ve taken turns chairing — the RFATS policy committee. Both said Tuesday the infrastructure bank announcement to fund York County’s application is the result of years of hard work at the local, county, state and federal levels.
It’s also something, Savage said, drivers will feel once construction is complete.
“They will benefit from the lack of congestion and improved safety conditions,” she said.
This story was originally published July 8, 2020 at 2:00 PM.
