701 Connector:
Bringing Myrtle Beach Sprawl to Farms and Fields 

The Waccamaw River stretches from North Carolina’s Lake Waccamaw to South Carolina’s Winyah Bay at Georgetown. 

This river also divides the developed "Grand Strand" from the rural areas of Horry and Georgetown counties. Since the early 90’s there have been efforts to bridge the Waccamaw and connect the Grand Strand with Highway 701. Such a connection would open hundreds of thousands of rural acres to Myrtle Beach developers. 

This $400-million road would bisect the Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge, promote sprawl on the western side of the river, displace traditional communities,andfragment critical wildlife habitat, destroying some of the state’s best hunting and fishing areas 

This is yet another example of a road that has no purpose in terms of transportation. Originally, proponents argued it was necessary for traffic relief on busy Hwy 17, but traffic studies showed it would have virtually no effect on that congestion. Then proponents said the purpose of the road would be to shorten daily trips for service workers going to jobs on the Grand Strand. Again, studies estimated this trip would be shortened by only 15 minutes. 

Now proponents have decided the "purpose" of the road is hurricane evacuation, using fear to convince residents they will die in a "Katrina-type storm" if the bridge is not built, even though the Myrtle Beach area already has the brand new Carolina Bays Parkway ($400 million), the relatively new and underused Conway Bypass ($400 million) and upgraded Highways 544 and Hwy 510.

Hurricane preparedness is about finding an adequate shelter or safe house to stay in, and getting away from the storm surge. It is about leaving early if you are one of the families who must evacuate your house. Today's coastal residents know at least five days in advance of a pending hurricane threat, which gives them ample time to close house and get animals, vehicles, boats and family members away from danger.

The irony of building a 701 Connector as an evacuation solution is that it would promote sprawl in the path of evacuees, assuring this new route would fail as an evacuation tool. 

In 2003 the South Carolina Department of Transportation published the Southern Conway Bypass Route Study Report. This $500,000-study recommended the road cross the river at its narrowest point south of Conway at Bucksville. Congressman Henry Brown secured a $4 million earmark in the federal transportation bill for the 701 Connector and in January SCDOT announced it would provide $1 million in matching funds to begin a draft Environmental Impact Statement. State Representative Nelson Hardwick (R, Dist 106) and Horry County Councilman Howard Barnard (Dist 5) are the Connector’s campaign leaders.  In February Horry County announced the formation of the Southern Evacuation Task Force (SELL) to sell the public the road. Fourteen Horry and Georgetown County elected officials, including Hardwick and Barnard, and citizens whose interest in the road is either political or financial, have now taken the lead role in developing the Environmental Impact Statement.

The 701 Connector/Southern Conway Bypass is a road with no demonstrated need.  It’s a developer’s road, a politician’s road that will destroy communities, a wildlife refuge and quality of life.  

(For more information on the 701 Connector, go to www.coastalconservationleague.org or call Nancy Cave at 843-545-0403.)