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Nearly one in four drivers traveling to Myrtle Beach would never use a toll road, even if it shaved 15 minutes off their trip, according to a new I-73 survey.

A little more than half (52 percent) would pay a toll if it were capped at $2, but 22 percent would not.

Support for paying a toll steadily drops as the fee increases, bottoming out at 19 percent for an $8 to $10 toll, results show.

The survey is part of a 250-page I-73 report the S.C. Department of Transportation recently presented to the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.

C&M Associates, a Dallas, Texas consulting firm that prepared the report, said tolls on the southern leg of I-73 would generate $5.2 million in its first year, and $32.7 million by 2050.

Nancy Cave, north coast director for the Coastal Conservation League, an environmental group that opposes I-73 as designed, said the league is still reviewing the report鈥檚 findings, but her initial impressions are that toll revenue estimates are low.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think enough money is generated to even maintain the interstate,鈥� Cave said. 鈥淚t seems the tolls that are generated don鈥檛 meet a level that would help demonstrate funding for the road.鈥�

A 鈥榩reliminary鈥� report

Cave said I-73 as designed negatively impacts 325 acres of wetlands along the proposed route. She said the league supports widening existing roads instead because it鈥檚 cheaper and less damaging environmentally.

鈥淏oth the public and elected officials need to look at upgrading S.C. 38 and U.S. 501 and four-laning S.C. 9 as an alternative to meet their needs,鈥� Cave said.

Most political and business leaders strongly support I-73, saying the road would generate jobs, attract more vacationers and provide a vital hurricane evacuation route.

The study says I-73 will cut 15 minutes off travel time from Hamlet, N.C. to Myrtle Beach by 2025, when I-73 is projected to open, and 20 minutes by 2040.

Mike Wooten, District 7 commissioner for the S.C. Department of Transportation, said he鈥檚 mystified by the league鈥檚 opposition because in 2004 the conservation group said it would support the interstate if it linked with S.C. 22, which it鈥檚 planned.

鈥淥ur message has been constant: We will not oppose I-73 if it stays north of Conway and connects to S.C. 22,鈥� Cave wrote in a July 28, 2004 letter. 鈥淚f, however, the proposed route is to the south of Conway, we will use every means available to defeat the entire South Carolina portion of the interstate.鈥�

Cave said the letter was written at a time leaders were considering a more southerly route for I-73, which she said would鈥檝e been extremely damaging environmentally.

鈥淚t was a different situation then,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e always had said that we would support upgrading S.C. 38 and U.S. 501 instead of a new alignment.鈥�

I-73 is a proposed interstate linking Myrtle Beach with Sault St. Marie, Mich., though serious efforts to build the highway have been mostly confined to North Carolina and South Carolina.

Two states鈥擬ichigan and Ohio鈥攈ave taken no steps whatsoever to build the road, the C&M report said.

In South Carolina, the highway is split into two segments. The southern section leg links S.C. 22 with I-95 near Dillon, while the northern leg continues to S.C. 38 at the state line near Hamlet, N.C.

The C&M report assumes a 2025 opening date for the southern leg and 2035 opening date for the northern leg.

Bob Kudelka, spokesman for S.C. DOT, said right of way has been acquired in Dillon County only. Right of way has been identified, but not purchased, for other counties along the route, including Horry County.

The S.C. DOT and Myrtle Beach chamber are facing criticism because the latest I-73 report was presented in a private setting.

Wooten said the meeting was private because the C&M report was 鈥渧ery preliminary鈥� and had 鈥渁 lot of bugs in it.鈥�

Asked for examples, Wooten said the report didn鈥檛 address potential changes in federal law to allow tolling on existing roads. He said under current federal law, only newly constructed segments can be tolled and not existing roads, such as S.C. 22.

If part or all of S.C. 22 were tolled, toll revenue would likely increase because more motorists would be inclined to drive the interstate, he said.

鈥淲hen the data is final, it鈥檒l be published. Everybody is going to get it,鈥� Wooten said. 鈥淭here is no intent to alter the data despite what some of our friends in the intervening groups have said.鈥�

Brad Dean, president and CEO of the chamber, said the chamber supports tolls, but also cautioned that the C&M report is premature.

鈥淲e fully support 鈥� efforts to study the potential of user fees to pay for an interstate connection between Interstate 95 and the Grand Strand,鈥� Dean said in a prepared statement.

鈥淭he comments from the Coastal Conservation League (CCL) questioning the purpose of this meeting are predictably misguided,鈥� the statement continued. These are the same people who oppose necessary investments in infrastructure projects like International Drive, [S.C.] 707 and S.C 31.鈥�

Detailed findings

The 250-page C&M report is incredibly detailed, incorporating results of chamber surveys, graphs charting traffic pattern trends and graphs showing projected toll revenues.

The report also includes a study that Chmura Economics and Analytics conducted in April.

Chmura鈥檚 study said employment would increase by 1.22 percent if I-73 isn鈥檛 built, and by 2.6 percent if it is. I-73 will create about 20,000 jobs, mainly in service-related businesses clustered at interchanges along its route, the report said.

There wasn鈥檛 unanimous support for tolls, however, in the report.

Leading reasons respondents gave for not using I-73 if it were tolled included time savings not being worth the toll, general opposition to tolls and not enough time savings in general.

The study, however, said nearly two in three people (59 percent) still support I-73 or the Southern Evacuation Lifeline (SELL), a proposed road linking S.C. 22 with the South Strand.

鈥淚t is also important to note that despite this opposition to selecting the tolled route, the survey results indicate that the majority of respondents are in favor of the I-73 and/or SELL projects,鈥� the report says.

According to the report, 鈥渢raffic demand for toll roads is particularly sensitive to the economic characteristics of the region,鈥� which could also play a role in the viability of I-73 tolls.

The report found that median household income in northeastern South Carolina has struggled to keep pace with state and national norms.

In 2013, counties within the I-73 study area failed to match median household incomes in South Carolina ($44,779) and the U.S. ($53,046).

Horry County led counties in the region at $42,431, followed by Florence County at $41,190. Georgetown County was third at $40,131.

No other county in the I-73 study area breached the $40,000 barrier, according to the study.

Here are some other findings of note from the study:

鈥� Forty-nine percent of visitors used U.S. 501 to travel to Myrtle Beach

鈥� Only 28 percent of vacationers used S.C. 22.

鈥� Eighty-four percent of respondents support I-73 due to faster travel times.

鈥� Seventy-one percent of those opposing I-73 do so due to opposition to tolls.

鈥� Only 19 percent opposing I-73 did so due to adverse environmental impacts.