Myrtle Beach mayor to flush Ocean Boulevard ‘flushing.’ Says it’s killing tourism

Myrtle Beach drivers could soon see a change in the busy tourist district as City Council moves to end downtown flushing.

Amid a flurry of legislative initiatives on Tuesday’s agenda for Myrtle Beach City Council’s first meeting of the year, a new motion would direct city manager Jonathan “Fox” Simons Jr. to end the Summer Emergency Vehicle Access Plan, or SEVAP, more commonly called flushing.

The plan – which city police said was intended to improve response times, increase visibility and allow officers to address concerns – seasonally reroutes part of the northbound lane Ocean Boulevard on weekend nights.

Incoming Mayor Mark Kruea said the traffic diversion “visually sends the wrong message,” contributes to declining tourism and hurts local businesses.

“The merchants reported a 40% decline in their revenues last year. If you’re trying to kill tourism, that’s the way to do it. We need to not take that action,” said Kruea.

Although the motion would end scheduled flushing, it would still allow staff to utilize traffic control practices.

“Police still have the ability to divert traffic as needed, but the automatic shut the boulevard down at 4:00 on Friday and Saturday serves no good purpose,” Kruea said.

Despite support from businesses and the mayor, the motion isn’t without controversy. Councilman Mike Lowder shared support for SEVAP on behalf of consituents.

“It is amazing how many residents, non-business owners, that I heard from,” said Lowder, “their displeasure, when they go down to the boulevard, they have to be turned off of the boulevard every Friday and Saturday night.”

The motion directs the manager to end SEVAP “effective immediately,” but a consultant is still finalizing an assessment of the plan. According to the motion language, a draft of the report will be ready in February.