Nov 6, 2026 · @ https://x.com/myrtlebeachnews
For two decades, a highway meant to give southern Horry County a second way out has lived mostly on paper. Now the paper is getting shorter. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has trimmed an original field of 22 possible paths for the SC-22 Extension Routes down to 14, and it will present a smaller slate of “reasonable alternatives” at three drop-in meetings Nov. 17–19 [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 2026]. The stated goal is three finalists by 2028.
Every cut brings the project closer to the question homeowners in Burgess, Bucksport and the farm country west of Conway have asked since the first route maps went up: is my house on the line? A resident of the Farm at Timberlake told WMBF that roughly 500 homes in her community could be affected [WMBF News, 2026]. A year earlier, neighbors near St. James High School said one proposed alignment would wipe out dozens of year-round homes.
This report lays out how the list is being cut, who stands in the way, what supporters say the county gains, and why the long timeline is itself a cost residents are already paying.
The SC-22 Extension Routes project has significant implications for local residents and the broader community.
The project has changed names more than once. It started life as the Southern Evacuation Lifeline, or SELL, and was later rebranded as an extension of SC 22. Its purpose stayed the same: a new evacuation and commuter route out of southern Horry that takes pressure off U.S. 501. As planned, the four-lane highway would tie U.S. 501 near Aynor to the U.S. 17 Bypass near Surfside Beach, with a new crossing of the Waccamaw River.
Locals have seen this map before. An early-2000s study weighed 28 routes and picked a preferred one in 2008. New subdivisions and roads then filled the corridor, and the effort stalled. A 2023 county and SCDOT study restarted it with 16 routes, which grew to 22 after public suggestions and Corps additions. The earlier attempt also died for lack of funding.
Funding is no longer the obstacle. The extension carries a $1.56 billion estimate for construction and environmental mitigation, paid through RIDE 4, the one-cent sales tax voters approved in 2024. It is the single most expensive project on that list. RIDE 3 dollars cover the environmental study and land purchases.
That shift matters more than any single route line. In 2008, the lack of money made the maps mostly theoretical. Today, the money is being collected at every register in the county, which turns each surviving route into a real possibility for the people living under it.
SCDOT administers the project for Horry County, but the Corps leads the environmental review [SC-22 Extension project site, 2026]. That is because the road needs federal permits to fill wetlands and cross navigable water. In its formal notice, the Corps said the extension could significantly affect the human environment, which requires a full Environmental Impact Statement [Federal Register, 2025].
The screening runs in two rounds. In Tier I, all 22 routes were judged on three tests: congestion relief, hurricane evacuation, and access to services on both sides of the Waccamaw. Tier II, where the list sits now, adds residential and business displacement, floodplains, cultural resources, impacts on the Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge, farmland, cost, and fit with local land-use plans.
Corps project manager Ann Eaddy has said the agency must land on the least environmentally damaging practicable alternative. She has also said a “no action” outcome, which would end the project, remains possible. At the Bucksport meeting in March, she listed home and business relocations among the impacts the study will weigh, alongside wetlands, streams and farmland.
One note on the numbers: TV outlets report 14 surviving routes, while the Sun News counts 15 that advanced past Tier 1. Either way, the Tier II round is where displacement starts to count against a route.
The people pushing back are not one group. They live in very different parts of the county, and a route that spares one tends to land on another.
South Strand subdivisions. Donna Brennan of the Farm at Timberlake told WMBF that about 500 homes in her neighborhood could be affected and that she would not have bought had she known. Another attendee said his neighborhood falls inside roughly six of the remaining options [WMBF News, 2026]. Susan Austin brought a petition with nearly 700 signatures to the March meeting. She said the Diamond, Salsbury and Carolina Woods neighborhoods back up to wetlands, and she wants the lowest-impact route, not cancellation [WPDE, 2026]. A separate online petition frames the threat to South Strand neighborhoods as one of eminent domain [Change.org petition].
Bucksport and the rural west. Farmer Kenneth Thompson told WPDE his family already lost farmland when the northern leg of SC 22 was built. He argued that working farmers bear more of the burden than wealthier landowners, and said he may sell to a builder instead. Former county council member Harold Phillips said the unknown itself is what worries people most [WPDE, 2026].
Landowners west of Conway. John Fleming said a past preferred route would have split his 100-acre family farm. Don Graham, on his 40-acre tract for nearly 50 years, said one option would force out four mobile homes he rents, cutting into his income [MyHorryNews, 2025].
Read together, these accounts describe a zero-sum map. Shifting a line away from a South Strand subdivision can push it toward Bucksport farmland, and steering clear of both can move it closer to the refuge and its wetlands.
Supporters see the same growth pressures as opponents and draw the opposite conclusion. Horry County is projected to add more than 200,000 residents in the coming decades, the largest gain of any county in South Carolina [Post and Courier, 2024]. Backers say the extension would add a second evacuation route and ease traffic on U.S. 501, 544, 17, 701, 707 and 378, plus Holmestown and El Bethel roads [MyHorryNews, 2025].
David Gilreath, the county’s assistant administrator for infrastructure and regulation, argued in March that the road gives drivers alternatives rather than creating new traffic, and improves access to medical care [WPDE, 2026]. Even some landowners in the study area agree. Glen Hughes, a Vietnam veteran with 50 acres that could be affected, said the highway is needed and would shorten his trips to VA services on the South Strand [MyHorryNews, 2025].
Critics question both claims. The Coastal Conservation League says the extension would spur sprawl in western Horry and Georgetown counties and add traffic to an already crowded U.S. 17 [Coastal Conservation League, 2025]. Resident Scott McHugh asked how thousands of evacuees could be moved from one road onto another, and urged finishing I-73 instead [WBTW, 2026].
The biggest cost of the SC-22 Extension may land years before any bulldozer does. Three finalists are not expected until 2028, construction until 2030, and opening until 2035 [WPDE, 2026; The Sun News, 2026]. The Corps has said it will publish the list of properties to be bought outright or taken through eminent domain, but only once a route is chosen [MyHorryNews, 2025]. A family inside a surviving corridor today could wait the better part of a decade for a firm answer.
The schedule has also slipped before. In May 2025, the Corps expected another round of narrowing that fall [MyHorryNews, 2025]. The first cut was presented in March 2026, and the reasonable alternatives arrive this month. That is ordinary for an environmental review, but every quarter of delay is another quarter of uncertain resale value for the homes in question.
There is a structural tension worth watching, too. The Corps’ central legal test is the least environmentally damaging practicable alternative, a standard rooted in protecting wetlands and waters [MyHorryNews, 2025; Federal Register, 2025]. Displacement is on the Tier II list, but residents should not assume it carries the same weight. If wetland avoidance drives the final choice, a route that steers clear of the refuge could end up closer to rooftops. That is a question to put directly to the Corps.
Federal law does require that people displaced by road projects receive a fully funded move [Post and Courier, 2018]. Kenneth Thompson’s talk of selling to a builder shows that uncertainty is already shaping private decisions long before anyone qualifies for that help [WPDE, 2026]. Public reporting so far has not included per-route counts of homes and businesses at risk. Those numbers are the most useful thing the Corps could put on the table in November.
The Corps posted two pre-recorded presentations at sc-22extension.com on Nov. 3, and the scoping comment period runs through Dec. 4, 2026 [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 2026]. Every session covers the same material, and comments made online count the same as those made in person [WMBF News, 2026].
| Date | Location | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Tue., Nov. 17 | Horry County Government & Justice Center, Multipurpose Rooms, 1301 2nd Ave., Conway | 4–6 p.m. |
| Wed., Nov. 18 | James Frazier Community Center, 1370 Bucksport Road, Bucksport | 4–6 p.m. |
| Thu., Nov. 19 | South Strand Recreation Center, 9650 Scipio Lane, Myrtle Beach | 4–6 p.m. |
After this round, the Corps will publish a Draft EIS with a public hearing, followed by a Final EIS [SC-22 Extension project site, 2026]. Three finalist routes are expected by 2028 [WPDE, 2026].
Questions worth bringing to the meetings:
Myrtle Beach News will be at the meetings. If your property sits inside one of the corridors, we want to hear from you.
SC-22 Extension Routes – Where should SC 22 go? Weigh in on Horry’s $1B project — The Sun News, Oct. 30, 2026
SC-22 Extension Routes – SC-22 Extension public scoping meetings scheduled for November — U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Oct. 16, 2026
SC-22 Extension Routes – SC-22 Extension project site — U.S. Army Corps of Engineers / SCDOT
SC-22 Extension Routes – Highway 22 extension project draws resident pushback — WMBF News, March 4, 2026
SC-22 Extension Routes – Army Corps schedules community meetings for SC Highway 22 Extension — WMBF News, Feb. 16, 2026
SC-22 Extension Routes – Bucksport residents weigh in as Army Corps narrows SC 22 routes — WPDE, March 3, 2026
SC-22 Extension Routes – Horry Co. residents present petition at Hwy. 22 input meeting — WPDE, March 3, 2026
SC-22 Extension Routes – ‘It’s ridiculous’: Residents weigh in on proposed Highway 22 extension — WBTW, March 2026
SC-22 Extension Routes – ‘It’s gonna change everything’: Locals give input about proposed South Strand connector — MyHorryNews, May 14, 2025
SC-22 Extension Routes – Residents, conservationists express concerns over Highway 22 extension proposals — WMBF News, May 2025
SC-22 Extension Routes – Notice of Intent to prepare a Draft EIS for the SC Highway 22 Extension — Federal Register, April 24, 2025
SC-22 Extension Routes – Bucksport, Burgess residents and the RIDE program — Post and Courier, 2024
SC-22 Extension Routes – People across SC must move so road can be widened — Post and Courier, 2018
SC-22 Extension Routes – Speak up for the Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge — Coastal Conservation League, 2025
Stop the Route 22 Extension through South Myrtle Beach and Murrells Inlet — Change.org petition
SC Hwy 22 Extension (Southern Connector) — Horry County RIDE project page
