Myrtle Beach man hopes to help I-73 become reality

SCNow.com
Originally Published: August 24, 2010
By Bob Juback

MYRTLE BEACH - Danny Isaac is the new head of the SCDOT Commission. He heads the board that helps dictate important road decisions all over South Carolina. And I-73 is the state's most important project.

Danny Isaac grew up in Horry County. He loves the Grand Strand and he’s committed to its growth. He believes much of that growth hinges on Interstate 73. However, the relatively-new chairman of the South Carolina Department of Transportation Commission is quick to make one thing clear.

“I-73 is not a Myrtle Beach road. It’s a South Carolina road. Tourism is the engine that powers the state and Myrtle Beach fuels that engine,” he said. “73 will do wonders for the state of South Carolina.”

Isaac sits at a conference table at A&I Fire and Restoration, the Myrtle Beach company he helped create in 1974. He talks about how he’s seen his hometown evolve over the decades and says roads have helped that process; roads like Highways 22 and 31. They make it easier for visitors to get around the Grand Strand once they get there but Isaac says they don’t help bring visitors to the Grand Strand. That’s why he says the state needs I-73.

“Myrtle Beach is the only major tourist destination in this country without interstate access. That hurts the area and the state, but it may hurt even more in the future because we’re getting more and more first-time visitors. Roads could determine if these folks return, so interstate access is critical to the success of not only the Grand Strand but for the entire state.”

Isaac moved into the chairman’s seat of the SCDOT commission in May, assuming the seat Marvin Stevenson of Marion resigned. The commission sets SCDOT policy and reviews its business. There are seven commissioners in all, representing the state’s six congressional districts and one at-large member appointed by the governor. Neither the at-large, the 5th district representative nor the 6th district commissioner lives in the Pee Dee, so that makes the Isaac the only local member. However, he heads the commission and when asked if that position could help move I-73 forward, he’s quick to answer.

“I think it does. It allows me to share with all the commissioners and with the rest of the state of South Carolina, the importance of I-73.”

Isaac says there are other projects that need addressing. Such as widening Highway 17 in Mount Pleasant, widening more stretches of I-95 to six lanes and updating worn-out bridges. He also points out how quickly and relatively-inexpensively the state recently renovated a big chunk of I-385 in the Upstate. He thinks if the state could make that happen, it can do the same with what he calls the number-one road priority: Interstate 73.

“I think if the state of South Carolina was committed to building I-73 unanimously and if we take a ‘we’ approach instead of ‘what we can do for our area versus your area’ approach and if we all worked together, I think conceivably we could have I-73 constructed,” he pauses for a couple of seconds, then continues. “In possibly five years.”

As with any project of this magnitude, money is the main issue and the main problem. Isaac thinks the state needs new, creative ways to come up with that money and he says it he’ll do whatever he can to help. Isaac feels the longer I-73 fails to exist, the further South Carolina and Myrtle Beach risk falling behind.

“And again,” he repeats. “I-73 should not be perceived as a Grand Strand project. I-73 is a project for the state of South Carolina.”