Hearing date set for bike week traffic loop, but there's one problem

The NAACP can present its case to stop Myrtle Beach from implementing a traffic loop during 2018 Atlantic Beach Bike week — but it will be a week too late.

A federal judge set a June hearing date on an injunction request by the NAACP to stop this year’s 23-mile traffic loop. Bike week is held over Memorial Day weekend.

In February, the NAACP and others filed a discrimination lawsuit against Myrtle Beach and its Police Department over the traffic loop. The NAACP also asked a judge to issue a preliminary injunction to halt the 2018 loop.

The loop was first implemented in 2015 for Atlantic Beach Bike Week, which is commonly referred to as "Black Bike Week." The loop came out of the aftermath of the 2014 violence that left three dead and seven injured from eight reported shootings along Ocean Boulevard.

The loop turns Ocean Boulevard into a one-way road and funnels traffic out to George Bishop Parkway and back to Ocean Boulevard.

City officials said the loop is intended to control traffic, ease congestion and reduce crime. But, NAACP officials say that isn't the case.

Instead, the NAACP argues, the loop is discriminatory and causes people to navigate traffic for hours. They also point to the fact the loop isn't implemented for similar events such as Harley Week and Carolina Country Music Fest.

With a hearing date in June, that would seem to pave the way for the city to use traffic restrictions during the 2018 bike week.

This story was originally published April 24, 2018 at 10:51 AM with the headline "Hearing date set for bike week traffic loop, but there's one problem."