Highway officials from the two Carolinas met in Myrtle Beach last week and agreed to begin studies on connections for Interstate 73 and Interstate 74.

An agreement was reached in principle to jointly perform environmental studies to construct I-73 from Rockingham, NC, to Myrtle Beach, and to connect I-74 from Brunswick County, NC, into the North Myrtle Beach area. It is expected that the matter will be up for formal endorsement by the SCDOT Commission at its February meeting and by the NC Board of Transportation at its March meeting.
At the summit meeting Friday, a resolution was passed recommending that I-73 be constructed in the vicinity of the Route 38 corridor between Richmond County, NC, and Marlboro County, SC, and that SC Highway 31 (Carolina Bays Parkway) would be extended from SC Highway 9 to the North Carolina state line, to connect with either I-74 or a spur of I-74.
More than 150 people attended the meeting sponsored by the South Carolina Department of Transportation and co-hosted by the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, the South Carolina I-73 Association and the North Eastern Strategic Alliance, a regional partnership between private industry and government to promote economic development in northeastern South Carolina.