Feds approve toll construction of Interstate 73 in South Carolina - $2.1b needed

At a state transportation commission meeting last week an FHWA official said the US Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters had approved the South Carolina application to build the $2.1b 130km (80 mile) I-73 with tolls. Project manager for I-73 Mitchell Metts told us today he hasn't seen any letter from FHWA but he expects it is on its way.

I-73 is located in the northeast of the state and runs from the Myrtle Beach area on the Atlantic coast directly inland and parallel with the North Carolina state line crossing I-95 near Dillon and ending where the NC line turns due west at Hamlet NC.

The road has been divided into two segments for permitting purposes:
- Southern 69km (43mi) from Myrtle Beach to I-95, project cost about $1,300m
- Northern 61km (38mi) I-95 to the NC line at Hamlet, project cost about $800m

Route selection and environmental impact study was started in 2004. The Northern segment is about six months behind the Southern segment but permitting should be finished on both by the middle of next year. The state is likely to seek private sector proposals for financing both segments of the road under a longterm lease toll concession.

The state legislature passed legislation enabling tolling in Feb 2006. That allows I-73 to be done as a public toll project, or the private sector route - with investors and a longterm lease/concession.

The decision to seek a concession has not yet been taken - the state transportation commission would have to approve it - but it seems unlikely the state DOT will take on the project as a public toll project unless it is unable to get good private sector proposals. It has little expertise in tolling and unlike North Carolina no state toll authority.

SCDOT would like to see both segments of I-73 built as a single project, Metts says.

Department forecasts put the traffic in both segments about the same - at around 30k veh/day in 2030, so neither portion is an obvious priority over the other. A preliminary toll feasibility study has just been started.

The southern segment is the more expensive - because it has a major river crossing (the Pee Dee River) and wetlands to bridge. The northern portion involves smallr bridge work.

Federal permission for tolling

Metts says the state applied last year for permission to toll the interstate under the Interstate System Construction Toll Pilot Program (ISCTPP) in the SAFETEA-LU legislation (p111-112). I-73 is the first interstate facility to be approved under the program. There are 'slots' or opportunities for three interstates to be built with toll financing under the terms of legislation. Other states involved in I-73 are North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, and Michigan, although activity on the project seems to drop off as you got northwards on that list. Ohio and Michigan are doing little.

To be eligible under federal law the applicant state must show among other things:
- an analysis that toll financing is the most efficient and economical way to advance the project
- plans for tolls

Selection criteria are:
- tolls proposed are fair to local, regional and interstate travelers (No "delawaring" tolls at the state line to put all the burden on interstate travelers)
- toll collection will be automatic (no cash collection?)
- preference has been given to an established public toll agency (not applicable in SC since none exists)
- no none-compete clauses

Tolls may only be used for the costs of the facility and reasonable return on investment for any private investors financing the project. No Pennpike monetizing the facility to fund other roadworks.

The purpose of toll financing must be to fund construction of new capacity.

BACKGROUND on I-73

Major purposes of the southern part of I-73 are:
- improved level of service and travel times for people visiting the Myrtle Beach area from I-95
- hurricane evacuation

It will be built as a 2x2 lane expressway with provision for widening inwards to 2x3 lanes. The road will be set in a 300 to 400ft right of way depending on the need for frontage roads.

In 1991 federal ISTEA legislation I-73 was specified to run from Detroit MI to Charleston SC and was identified as a "high priority corridor". High priority status in the US Congress means little and only tiny dribs and drabs of federal money have been spent on the route.

In 1998 the TEA21 legislation moved I-73's SC routing 100km to 125km (80mi) northeast up the coast  from Charleston to the Myrtle Beach area.

At its southern end I-73 will take over Route 22, an expressway completed in 2001 and needing only rather minor upgrades - shoulders and the like -to meet interstate standards.

At its northern end North Carolina is upgrading US220 to be made into I-73 in that state. Virginia and West Virginia are also working on segments in their states.

Below are the relevant parts of federal law:

TOLLROADSnews 2007-08-13