South Carolina Highway 31 (SC 31), also known as the Carolina Bays Parkway, is a six-lane, limited-access highway that parallels (in most cases) the Intracoastal Waterway around Myrtle Beach. The first phase opened on December 17, 2002, completing a link between U.S. Route 501 (US 501) and SC 9. The second phase opened in March 2005, running from US 501 southwest to S.C. Highway 544. The third phase opened on November 7, 2019, extending to SC 707. While usually referred to only as the Carolina Bays Parkway, the highway is also dedicated the John B. Singleton Parkway in memory of John B. Singleton, a former Myrtle Beach City Council member and police commissioner. Route description The route first starts at the interchange with S.C. 707 with a trumpet interchange where it then heads northwest before curving northeast. The route then makes an interchange at S.C. 544 near Socastee where it continues on for about four miles before reaching the interchange with U.S. Route 501 which S.C. 31 has an unusual hybrid interchange with US501, similar to a cloverstack, with elements of a trumpet interchange, in which two flyover ramps from S.C. 31 to U.S. Route 501 exit left from S.C. 31 and wrap around the interchange's loop ramps. After the interchange, it continues at an easterly direction towards the interchange with Grissom Parkway/International Drive followed by Water Tower Road which eventually reaches the interchange with S.C. 22 with a two-level cloverstack interchange. S.C. 31 then heads for about eight miles before reaching the interchange at S.C. 90 (Robert Edge Parkway) near North Myrtle Beach before it reaches the trumpet interchange with S.C. 9 near Little River. History Early history The road that would eventually become Carolina Bays Parkway was planned as early as 1989 by then-U.S. Representative Robin Tallon. The roadway would ease traffic problems in Myrtle Beach, especially on US 17 Bypass. The road derives its name from the various Carolina bays located west of the Intracoastal Waterway that would be close to the road. The following year, the Carolina Bays Parkway Task Force was established to help develop a plan for how the road would be built. The 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act was passed to allow the road to receive $9.6 million in federal funding as part of Corridor 5. In March 1996, voters in Horry County defeated a measure that would have levied a 1