| State: | SC |
| Alternate Name: | Conway Bypass Veterans Highway |
| Maint: | SCDOT |
| Map Custom: | yes |
| Map Notes: | SC 22 highlighted in red |
| Type: | SC |
| Route: | 22 |
| Length Mi: | 29.390 |
| Length Round: | 3 |
| Length Ref: | [1] |
| Established: | 2001 |
| Direction A: | West |
| Direction B: | East |
| Terminus A: | near Aynor |
| Junction: |
|
| Terminus B: | near Briarcliffe Acres |
| Counties: | Horry |
| Previous Type: | US |
| Previous Route: | 21 |
| Next Type: | SC |
| Next Route: | 23 |
South Carolina Highway 22 (SC 22), also known as the Conway Bypass and Veterans Highway, is a four lane freeway that connects US 501 north of Conway, South Carolina, to US 17 in Myrtle Beach. The road was opened to traffic on May 4, 2001, six months ahead of schedule. It is slated to become part of Interstate 73 in the future. The road largely meets Interstate Highway standards, but in order to support increased Interstate traffic, its shoulders would need to be expanded to standard width.[2] [3]
In 1994, the original contract with Fluor Daniel called for six lanes from US 17 to SC 905 and four lanes the rest of the way to US 501. This money depended on a one-cent sales tax devoted to road funding, but voters turned that down.[4]
A bridge was built over the Intracoastal Waterway near Briarcliffe Acres, but it remained the "Bridge to Nowhere" for three years because there was no money to build the road. In February 1999, the South Carolina Senate passed a bill naming the bridge for Billy Alford, state highway commissioner from 1990 to 1994 and commission chair in 1993.[5]
On February 24, 1999, the South Carolina Department of Transportation Commission approved $95 million to make the bypass four lanes. Two years earlier, since money was short, the bypass had been reduced to two lanes beyond SC 90, though the $291.3 million project had six lanes to SC 31.
Even with the changes, the road would end up being cheaper than planned because of narrower shoulders and bridges, and more bridges over wetlands.[4]
On March 4, 1999, The Joint Bond Review Committee approved selling bonds for the money approved in February. Widening the bridges was considered, since some believed that the road could need six lanes in only a few years.[6]
In June 2000, the first section of the Conway Bypass opened 17 months sooner than expected despite flooding from Hurricane Floyd. In November 2000, the section from SC 90 to SC 905, including a 29-foot-high bridge over the Waccamaw River, opened 13 months sooner than planned. The final section opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony in May 2001.[7]
In 2003, the South Carolina General Assembly approved a resolution asking that the Conway Bypass be designated I-73.[8]
South Carolina Highway 22 is slated to be upgraded to Interstate standards and eventually become the southernmost terminus of Interstate 73 (I-73).[9] I-73 will begin where SC 22 starts at US 17 near Briarcliffe Acres. It will then proceed northwest crossing the proposed routing of I-74 (currently SC 31, the Carolina Bays Parkway). After passing Conway, I-73 will leave SC 22 at a new interchange to be constructed 2miles west of US 701, and will then use a new highway to be built between SC 22 and SC 917 north of Cool Spring.[10] The "I-73 Intermediate Traffic and Revenue Study" by C&M Associates, dated February 2016, was to be presented to state transportation officials March 24, 2016 and included upgrades to SC 22. RIDE III, if approved by voters, would also provide funding for the Southern Evacuation Lifeline,[11] a proposed 28miles limited-access highway which would start at the western terminus of SC 22 with US 501 and allow a more direct route west from the southern Strand, while simultaneously, along with SC 22, completing a beltway around the Myrtle Beach area.[12] Voters subsequently approved RIDE III in November 2016;[13] as of Summer 2022, the project remains in the design phase.[14]
Interest in I-73 was renewed in early 2021 due in part to the announcement of the American Jobs Plan.[15] Two years later in September 2023, SCDOT announced that Phase I of the project, which would connect I-95 in Dillon County to US 501 south of Latta, would be "shovel ready" by the new year. They also announced that had begun right-of-way purchasing within Horry County from the Little Pee Dee River to the eventual connecting point for I-73 and SC 22.[16]