Judge sides with Myrtle Beach on 2 bike week issues, allows race-based claims to continue
A federal judge sided with Myrtle Beach on two issues in an ongoing lawsuit over the bike week traffic loop, but allowed arguably the most significant allegation to continue.
South Carolina District Judge Sherri Lydon ruled on Tuesday that the lawsuit will continue as a jury could find race played a part in the traffic loop’s implementation.
The NAACP filed a lawsuit in February 2018 against Myrtle Beach over the use of the traffic loop during Atlantic Beach bike week. The 23-mile detour has been used for several years, though the NAACP called it discriminatory.
The NAACP initially filed a suit in February 2018 over the traffic loop, calling it discriminatory. NAACP leaders said the detour is not used during other weekends and it has done little to improve safety. They also say those that enter the one-way detour can be trapped inside for hours.
The detour funnels traffic from Ocean Boulevard out to the county before returning to city limits. The loop is traditionally used during the overnight hours, but was not implemented in 2019. In 2020, the Atlantic Beach bike week - commonly referred to as “black bike week” - was delayed, then canceled, because of COVID-19.
Myrtle Beach first implemented the loop in 2015 after three men were killed in multiple shooting incidents during the 2014 Bikefest event.
Twice the NAACP asked the judge to issue an order to prevent the loop from being used in 2018 and 2019. But, those efforts were rejected.
The suit continued in federal court for the past two years, with little update, until Tuesday.
Myrtle Beach lawyers previously asked for judgment on a few claims, saying they were no longer disputed between the sides. On Tuesday, Lydon sided with the city on the allegations that the loop violated the First Amendment, or restricted interstate business.
However, she allowed the issues on whether the loop violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution to move forward.
Lyndon wrote in an order that a jury could determine race was one of the motivating factors in the creation of the loop. The judge did not rule on whether race played a part, only that a jury could rule in the NAACP’s favor.
The NAACP argued the traffic loop is not used during other high-profile events, such as Harley bike week.
“Historically, the City of Myrtle Beach and Atlantic Beach were racially segregated from one another,” Lydon wrote.
She also documented how the city took a more hostile approach to bike week in the past. Lydon noted an email sent by City Manager John Pedersen that called for “as many drug dogs as possible” for Memorial Day weekend to make participants want to stop attending. Former City Manager David Stradinger also called for the city to make it “uncomfortable” for bike week visitors.
While many racially inflammatory comments came from non-government officials, the city acknowledged them, Lydon wrote.
“However, the operation plan was developed in part due to public outcry, and much of the public outcry in the record is racially inflammatory,” the judge wrote in the ruling.
This story was originally published August 4, 2020 at 7:21 PM.
