Ride 4 is projected to run through 4,000 acres of preserved public lands along the Waccamaw National Wildlife preserve.
Writes Becky Ryon of the Coastal Conservation League: “As we’ve mentioned in our past emails, Horry County is considering allocating billions of taxpayer dollars to the construction of I-73 and the SC Highway 22 Extension, formerly called the Southern Evacuation Lifeline. These zombie projects have been debated for 30 years and their proposals haven’t gotten any better. If approved, they would destroy hundreds of acres of what are meant to be protected wetlands and devastate the way of life for historic rural communities.“
Trace Gasper, Executive Director, of Friends of Coastal South Carolina said, “Waccamaw is the national wildlife refuge system that protects and manages these lands on behalf of the American people, who actually own these lands. The refuge protects 40,000 acres.”
Gasper added, “So far, all of these maps we’ve gotten from SCDOT have not been great as far as showing the exact impacts of where these roads will cross in the refuge. With this [RIDE 4] project we are very concerned about any roads that would pass through the refuge.“
Waccamaw National Wildlife preserve
Debra Buffkin, Executive Director of Winyah Rivers Alliance, gave an emotional testimony of how her parents were flooded out twice from their home that runs just west of the Little Pee Dee River.
BUT IT’S NOT JUST THE CONSERVATIONISTS CONCERNED ABOUT RIDE 4
RIDE 4 Packet – January 22 … by MyrtleBeachSC news
Possum Trot Road Extension Possum Trot Road Extension
Horry County conservatives no longer trust government with big ticket items like $5.8 billion. Trump will certainly be on the ballot and America First candidates will be voting in force.
One pet project in the plan is to construct a new access in North Myrtle Beach from US Hwy 17 to Madison Drive including necessary improvements on Madison Drive which will cost $23 million. Put simply, this project is to create a golf cart path so that Dell Webb owners in North Myrtle Beach can have access to the beachfront. Current law does not allow them to drive their golf carts across Highway 17.
Barefoot Landing Swing Bridge Replacement over Intracoastal Waterway Barefoot Landing Swing Bridge
Another $132 million in the budget is to replace the Barefoot Resort bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway. That pet project will allow Barefoot Resort owners access to their beachfront cabana by golf cart. The cost of this project comes in at $132 million.
Will America First voters in Longs, Loris, Conway, and Carolina Forest vote for these pet projects.
Between the Waccamaw National Wildlife preserve and hundreds of millions in pet projects, Ride 4 must get approved by the voters. The November 2024 ballot referendum is just ahead.