Horry County Road Funding and the Primaries By Dennis Mitchell Funding for road repairs, upgrades and new construction will be an important issue in the political races over the next three months until the June 2024 primaries are held. The issue will hold over after the primaries as Horry County voters will be asked in a referendum question on the general election ballot whether the one-cent local option sales tax should be extended, possibly for up to 25 years, to fund new road projects. It was only two years ago that the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce was making a ‘no holds barred’ political effort to get funding for its notorious Interstate 73 project. The governor, lieutenant governor, several of our local legislators and the Mark Lazarus attempt at recapturing the county chairman position were enlisted for the effort. The effort failed. Now that I-73 has been at least temporarily shelved, concentration on needed upgrades and new construction on local roads can be the center...