Secretary LaHood: I-73 is high priority (AUDIO)

U.S Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood met with South Carolina’s leaders who are pushing Interstate 73. The highway that would run from Michigan to Myrtle Beach is on the federal priority list. Representative Doug Jennings (D-Chesterfield, Marlboro), who is active in the I-73 effort, says the meeting was encouraging.

LaHood told participants in a packed auditorium that the next governor will be important in making sure this Interstate is built. LaHood suggests the money should come from a federal infrastructure bank.

AUDIO: Jennings recaps the meeting and what is ahead for I-73 in Congress (6:20)

Congressman John Spratt hosted the meeting, which included regional legislators, business leaders and S.C. Transportation Commission Chairman Danny Isaac.

Spratt says the project is critical to the area’s economy, as it would “cut through the Pee Dee and spur development in a region where it’s sorely needed.”

A study last year by Coastal Carolina University says that I-73 construction would create more than 38,000 jobs during its five years of construction.

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