The road that would eventually become Carolina Bays Parkway was planned as early as 1989 by then-U.S. Representative Robin Tallon.

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.

[3][4] In March 1996, voters in Horry County defeated a measure that would have levied a 1 percent sales tax countywide to pay for future road infrastructure in the Myrtle Beach area, including what would be a bypass to alleviate traffic problems in Myrtle Beach and the future Carolina Forest development.

South Carolina Governor David Beasley created a local task force in May 1996 to determine short-term and long-term goals for the greater Grand Strand.

The commission set up became what is currently known as the Road Improvement and Development Effort, or RIDE, headed by Gary Loftus, a former highway commissioner.

[6] To avoid the difficulties that occurred with the failed tax increase, the committee sought ideas from the community.

[7] A series of public hearings were held in late June and early July 1996 to determine what would be best for the new roadway.

Some members of the task force and Myrtle Beach city council were concerned that the road would be built farther away from the traffic problem areas.

Had the parkway not been built until years later, the costs would have increased dramatically due to future homes in Carolina Forest in the path of the roadway.

Two lobbying groups, Taxpayers for Common Sense and Friends of the Earth, both argued against the need for the road from economic and environmental perspectives.

Split off as part of a separate project, the road's plan called for a spur route to be built across the Waccamaw River to connect to US 701 from Socastee.

[14] David Farren, an environmental lawyer, argued that the Carolina Bays Parkway was a "developer's road" in the sense that it encouraged more "fringe" growth rather than allay current traffic problems.

"[17] In January 1998, the Joint Bond Review Committee approved the funding necessary for the Carolina Bays Parkway and other projects in Horry County.

[23] Before the official opening, many were using the road as an unofficial bypass around the highways in Myrtle Beach and as a faster route to deliver and remove materials for subdivisions in Carolina Forest.

[31] Between 2002 and 2004, State Sen. David Elliott opposed the efforts of State Rep. Tracy Edge to get the northern extension built, claiming the northeastern part of the county did not need such a highway, and that North Carolina had not set a definite route for Interstate 74 to which the road could connect.

[32] Currently, the northern extension is unfunded, waiting in part on NCDOT to finalize its routing of Interstate 74 in southeastern North Carolina.

[37][38][39] Horry County, South Carolina currently has the extension of SC 31 in their RIDE III projects.