County, state seek $858M in road funds

The state Department of Transportation and Charleston County both joined the race for road construction funds Tuesday by agreeing to submit $858 million worth of applications to the State Infrastructure Bank. The state's $138 million application, if approved, would let the state widen a deadly 22-mile section of U.S. Highway 17 in Beaufort and Colleton counties from two to four lanes. The state's two-part application specifically asks for a $90 million grant and a $48 million loan to assist in financing the more than $170 million widening project. The state has pushed for the project to move forward quickly since a March 2004 crash injured more than 70 and killed three Navy sailors. In all, accidents along the highway have claimed the lives of 33 people since 1997. As the state waits to see if the project's environmental permits are approved, other governments across the state also are vying for the bank's money. Charleston County is among the competitors. County Council members voted 5-3 Tuesday to submit a substantially larger $720 million application to the bank. The money would be used to design and build the final leg of the Mark Clark Expressway from James Island to Savannah Highway and a new access road linking a planned port terminal in North Charleston to Interstate 26. The decision didn't come easy, as council members expressed concern about both projects. Councilwoman Colleen Condon said the county is moving too soon on the Mark Clark project, which some residents oppose because of its potential to increase congestion on Savannah Highway and to increase development on rural parts of Johns Island, where a new section of Interstate 526 would cross. And Councilmen Henry Darby and Teddie Pryor also voted against the application because of concerns over whether the port access road would displace homes or businesses. The state has not selected a route for the new road. Council Chairman Leon Stavrinakis said the county would have more leverage with the state by submitting the application to the Infrastructure Bank. Other council members who voted yes included Curtis Bostic, Ed Fava, Tim Scott and Charles Wallace. If the bank agrees to come up with $720 million for those two projects, then the county would agree to spend $354 million from its half-cent sales tax for resurfacing and upgrading state-owned highways, including U.S. Highway 17 in Mount Pleasant. "I think it's sort of a win-win situation," Fava said. "The leverage is tremendous." It's unclear how the bank might view the new applications from the state and the county."I would certainly hope they could finance both," said State Highway Commissioner Bob Harrell. "But nothing with the Infrastructure Bank is a slam-dunk." But it's not just the state and Charleston County interested in getting their hands on a share of the bank's money. State Infrastructure Bank Board member Richard Tapp Jr. said that the members are expecting to receive other applications from across the state, presenting members with a higher demand for money than has been shown in previous years. For that reason, bank board members are meeting today to tweak their guidelines and to set an application deadline for sometime in November. Previously, the process was time- sensitive. But not this time around. "Some hard choices are getting ready to be made by the board," Tapp said. "Everyone has infrastructure needs in this state, and we certainly do not have the capability to fund all applications." Tapp said the bank currently has roughly $150 million to spend. An additional $250 million would essentially return to the bank in late 2006 if Florence County voters don't approve a referendum to spend more than $375 million on its road projects. The bank already has promised the $250 million to Florence County road projects if its referendum is approved. Still, the bank has several sources of funding and, like a real bank, it has the bonding capacity to stretch its dollars. State lawmakers will decide next year whether to increase the bank's funding by diverting other state income streams to its coffers. The Infrastructure Bank is a state agency that was created to fund large projects costing more than $100 million, such as the new $632 million Cooper River bridge.

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