Judge decides fate of 2018 Memorial Day weekend traffic loop in Myrtle Beach
Days before Memorial Day weekend, a federal judge ruled Myrtle Beach can use a 23-mile traffic loop despite pleas from the NAACP to ban the plan.
"The Court finds that the public interest will be best served if the City is allowed to proceed with its traffic plan for Memorial Day Weekend 2018," Judge Marvin Quattlebaum wrote in an order issued on Wednesday.
Earlier this year, the NAACP filed a discrimination lawsuit against the city and its police department. The association also asked for a preliminary injunction to stop the 2018 version of the loop.
Myrtle Beach uses the traffic loop during Atlantic Beach Bikefest, commonly referred to as "Black Bike Week." The loop funnels traffic from Ocean Boulevard out to the county before returning to city limits.
The NAACP called the 23-mile traffic loop discriminatory and said it takes away from the enjoyment of the weekend. City officials say the loop is as a public safety measure and the number of incidents has dropped since 2015.
The loop is used from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. The city also converts a stretch of Ocean Boulevard into a one-way road to allow emergency vehicles to use the other lanes. That one-way stretch starts Friday at 6 a.m.
The current version of the loop was first implemented in 2015 following violence in 2014 that included nine shootings and three homicides.
Both sides argued their case before Quattlebaum during a hearing in Greenville earlier this month.
NAACP lawyers said the loop violated several constitutional protections, one being the equal protection clause. The group stated there are different plans for Harley Week, with predominantly white participants, and Memorial Day, which has a predominantly black population.
The NAACP cited hotel occupancy rates and used two experts to show the weeks are similar. The city countered by saying Harley Week participants congregate south of the city whereas Memorial Day riders gather along Ocean Boulevard.
In his ruling, Quattlebaum determined the since the sides dispute whether the weeks are similar, that the NAACP did not meet its burden to clearly show it could win on that argument.
The group would need to show it would clearly win in order for a judge to issue an injunction.
Quattlebaum also ruled that even if the weeks are similar, that the NAACP did not show the differences in traffic plans was from intentional discrimination.
The NAACP also claimed a 2018 loop would create "irreparable harm." But, Quattlebaum rejected that overture. He noted the loop has been in place for three years without any action by the NAACP.
"The Plaintiffs could have brought suit to enjoin the Defendants’ traffic plan at any time over the past three years, but they did not do so. Instead, the Plaintiffs filed suit three months before Memorial Day Weekend 2018. The Court finds that this delay weighs against the Plaintiffs’ request for the extraordinary remedy of a preliminary injunction," the judge stated.
In fact, Quattlebaum stated, if he granted the injunction the city would be impacted.
"The Court further finds that if the traffic plan is enjoined only a few days before Memorial Day that the Defendants will be prejudiced in their ability to provide for the public safety during Memorial Day Weekend and that there is a risk of the same or similar harm this year as there was during prior Memorial Day Weekends when no traffic plan was in place," he wrote.
The judge also found the NAACP did not clearly show it could win on a claim that the loop violated the First Amendment. The NAACP argued the loop stops free congregation and expression.
The judge's ruling does not end the case and Quattlebaum stated the NAACP raised questions about the effectiveness of the traffic plan.
But, he determined an injunction to stop the 2018 loop was not appropriate.
This story was originally published May 23, 2018 at 5:13 PM with the headline "Judge decides fate of 2018 Memorial Day weekend traffic loop in Myrtle Beach."