Horry County, local and state law enforcement respond to community concerns on Atlantic Beach Bikefest

Horry County officials met with community members Tuesday to discuss plans for the upcoming Memorial Day Bikefest and adjusted plans based on the feedback from those who attended.

Myrtle Beach, county and state law enforcement officials hosted two meetings Tuesday — first Tuesday morning at Beach Church, where more than 30 people showed up, and later at the South Strand Recreation Center to a crowd of about 20.

One of those community members was Woodrow Jones, who was concerned about a potential opening in a planned 23-mile traffic loop at the intersection of Waccamaw Boulevard and Ronald McNair Boulevard.

“I’m worried about that community,” Jones said of the residents who live along McNair.

Grand Strand officials are planning to enact a 23-mile loop from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. May 22 to 24 aiming to ease traffic on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach. The traffic loop routes drivers from 29th Avenue North on Ocean Boulevard south and around to Kings Highway, north to Harrelson Boulevard – which turns into George Bishop Parkway – west to Waccamaw Boulevard, which runs next to U.S. 501, onto S.C. 31 heading north to Grissom Parkway south, then onto U.S. 17 Bypass and down 29th Avenue North.

The Waccamaw and McNair intersection is not along a main highway and Jones was concerned it was being overlooked.

“We are going to have people on post, that if a problem arises, then we will take care of that problem,” said First Sergeant Don Causey of the S.C. Highway Patrol. “We’ll have people working all up and down that area, and if a problem arises, we will be there.”

Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus took Jones’ request one step further publicly asking Horry County Police Chief Saundra Rhodes to make sure that area is protected.

“Not only do we have a great many residents who live along Ron McNair Boulevard, but we also have a school that is down there and some pretty sizable open land that is being developed that could be a point of contention for a congregation,” Lazarus said. “So, chief I’m going to ask you and if we’re blocking River Oaks Boulevard, keeping traffic from coming in there, one more point to block is going to be Ron McNair. We don’t need people traveling and even deciding, ‘Hey, I’m going to get off this loop for a while and go rest,’ because next thing you know, you’re going to have a party down in their neighborhood. We can’t let that happen.”

“To say we’re going to patrol, I think we need to get on the front end of that and have another gate set up in that area because I can see the potential for that already.”

Rhodes agreed.

“That’s the purpose for having these meetings, so we can hear concerns from the citizens,” Rhodes said. “Between highway patrol and county police we will make sure we will have someone there monitoring that area.”

Chris Merillat, of Socastee, expressed concern that the county would not have enough officers to patrol downtown Myrtle Beach, since many will be posted around the loop.

“People like to sit in the motel parking lots and watch the traffic — partially so they don’t have to be in the traffic — so that’s where the crowds seem to go,” Merrilat said.

Lt. Joey Crosby, Myrtle Beach police public information officer, said area businesses were encouraged to beef up staff and hire private security forces to manage “parking lot parties” during the weekend. The city is also bringing in more than 400 additional officers for the weekend.

Merrilat said he understands the city, county and police are working together to try and make bike week as inconvenient and safe as possible.

“It’s one of those things where they’re between a rock and a hard place,” he said.

Tens of thousands of people travel to the Grand Strand during Memorial Day weekend for Atlantic Beach Bikefest or to enjoy a three-day weekend at the beach. Three people died and seven were injured in eight shootings last year along Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach.

Jones said the traffic loop seems to be pushing crime from Myrtle Beach into the county.

“It seems to me that if this a peak time of crime, you’re pushing the crime to us,” Jones said. “You’re pushing crime 10 miles out into the country where there are no lights, how are you going to guarantee us that we’re going to be protected, too, like Myrtle Beach is protected?”

Law officials said the goal of the loop is to keep traffic and crowds moving, which traditionally lessens the opportunity for groups to form and crime to occur.

Lazarus said the county was sold on the idea of the loop at a summit held in Myrtle Beach in September because of the projected diversion of traffic to S.C. 31, where there will be an increase of law enforcement.

“What’s going to happen on [S.C.] 31, is, in the past 31 has been no-man’s land,” Lazarus said. “And that’s where we’ve had a tremendous amount of our accidents and problems and the highway patrol chasing people back and forth. Because of the concentration we’re going to have, especially in that period from [U.S.] 501 all the way to Grissom Parkway, is you’re going to have a significant amount of law enforcement along that way and more concentrated traffic that’s going to slow that traffic down to where they have a better handle on it... I feel confident that this is going to work.”

Horry County Fire and Rescue has contracted an extra five for-profit ambulances during the weekend — at no expense to taxpayers — and another five from neighboring cities, Chief Fred Crosby said. The ambulances will be posted along certain intersections to keep “travel times down,” he said.

Randy Webster, director of the county’s emergency management department, has spearheaded the area’s effort to coordinate law enforcement strategies for Bikefest. He said executing the plan will be an ongoing process that can change as late as the days of the bike rally.

“This is an attempt to try to control something that is uncontrollable to the best that we can,” Webster said. “I think it needs to be understood that all the planning has gone into this... it’s still uncontrollable. We’re just doing the best we can to address what we best think will take place. It’s still fluid. Keep that in mind. We’ll be re-addressing things each day as things come up, especially problem areas and problem concerns.”

This story was originally published April 14, 2015 at 10:29 PM with the headline "Horry County, local and state law enforcement respond to community concerns on Atlantic Beach Bikefest."