Ron Willing

Ron Willing | assistant program manager at the S.C. Department of Transportation

Construction of the $70 million Main Street connector project in North Myrtle Beach will be delayed, as construction bids for the project might not go out before January, said city officials and the S.C. Department of Transportation.

Bids were supposed to have gone out sometime in September or this month but have been postponed in part because the DOT needs more time to address questions about utilities.

Construction of the connector, often referred to as the North Myrtle Beach connector, was slated to begin by December or early 2005.The DOT hopes construction will start by late spring 2005, said Ron Willing, assistant program manager at the DOT.

"There has been some utilities issues that did not come up until late in the ballgame," Willing said.
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"I don't think it's that high, but it's close," Willing said.
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Willing said the DOT might have to bid the connector in sections because it does not have in hand all the funding for the project."Right now, we have $45 million," he said.

The State Infrastructure Bank came up with the additional $25 million needed to complete the connector around April.The money is part of the $198 million in highway funds Horry County requested from the S.C. Transportation Infrastructure Bank.

No one has any idea when we will receive the funds, Willing said.

"We were counting on it by the end of this year," he said.

It's disappointing not knowing when that will happen, especially with Foxfire residents already moving, he said.The DOT wants to turn around and be able to tell them when, he added.

Once construction begins on the connector, it will take about two to 2½ years to complete, Willing said.