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. 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. 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. 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. 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. In 2003, the South Carolina General Assembly approved a resolution asking that the Conway Bypass be designated I-73.
Future
South Carolina Highway 22 is slated to be upgraded to Interstate standards and eventually become the southernmost terminus of Interstate 73. Interstate 73 will begin where SC 22 starts at US 17 near Briarcliffe Acres. It will then proceed northwest crossing the proposed routing of Interstate 74. After passing Conway, Interstate 73 will leave SC 22 at a new interchange to be constructed west of US 701, and will then use a new highway to be built between SC 22 and SC 917 north of Cool Spring. 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. It included upgrades to SC 22. RIDE III, if approved by voters, would also provide funding for the Southern Evacuation Lifeline. The current interchange that serves as the western terminus of SC 22 with U.S. 501 is slated to be the starting point for the proposed Southern Evacuation Lifeline, a proposed limited-access highway which would allow a more direct route west from the southern Strand, while simultaneously, along with SC 22, completing a beltway around the Myrtle Beach area.
