Horry County unveils plan for building 33 miles of bike paths, sidewalks and nature trails in Burgess

A day after wrapping up a three-week remodeling job, Tom Housner traded his tools for a few beers and a round of disc golf.

The 59-year-old handyman meandered through the wooded course at Socastee Park on Thursday morning, slinging discs and occasionally stopping to sip suds or adjust his Oakland Raiders ball cap.

“This is my solace point,” Housner said. “This is my respite.”

In the coming years, residents of nearby Burgess may be able to enjoy that same recreational spot without having to drive there.

Horry County officials plan to connect the park with the neighboring community through a 33-mile trail network, one that would provide Burgess with the walking paths that were largely overlooked during the last 20 years of explosive development.

“Burgess is a really interesting community,” said John Danford, the planner who presented the design to the county’s planning commission last week. “They’re really engaged. … They all recognize that 20 years ago had they done this, their community would be all that much better today.”

Burgess sits along the S.C. 707 corridor between Socastee and the Georgetown County line. Bordered on the west by the Waccamaw River and on the east by U.S. 17 Bypass, the community covers about 28 square miles.

In recent decades, Burgess has seen tremendous growth, booming from a rural hamlet of 3,396 in 1990 to a bustling population of nearly 25,000 in 2010, according to U.S. Census data.

As more residents moved to Burgess, the infrastructure didn’t keep up with that growth.

“Nobody was really thinking about sidewalks and bike paths and that sort of thing 30 years ago,” said Al Jordan, president of the Greater Burgess Community Association. “In a rural community, who builds sidewalks? That just simply wasn’t the mindset.”

Recognizing Burgess was lagging behind, county officials met with area residents several years ago to craft a plan for improving connectivity and managing growth. That plan, which Horry County Council approved in 2012, included residents’ recommendations for building bicycle and pedestrian paths. County officials spent the last year designing a specific trail system. The planning commission will consider that proposal before forwarding the document to County Council.

“We have to be opportunistic in the future,” Jordan said. “So that if new roads get built or they get widened or whatever, that’s the opportunity that this is taken care of along with the roadway ... When something comes up, it’s already part of the plan. It’s already on paper.”

S.C. 707 is being widened and plans call for adding sidewalks on both sides of the highway. But apart from those, the main paths in Burgess are the sidewalks in the area’s subdivisions. S.C. 707’s expansion also doesn’t include bike lanes.

“There’s a big need for it here,” said Bryan Mitchell, who owns Myrtle Beach Bicycles on S.C. 707. “People mainly ride in their communities where they live.”

Since Mitchell opened his shop four years ago, he said business has tripled. And the availability of bike paths and trails are what his customers often ask about. He’s pleased the county is thinking ahead.

“People are always looking for places to ride,” he said. “There’s a lot of baby boomers retiring here. There’s a great interest in keeping healthy and cycling and this just fits right in there with the bill for that.”

The design for the 33-mile system includes multi-purpose paths, pedestrian bridges, sidewalks and nature trails.

“The trails are really cool,” Danford, the planner, said. “A lot of them are going to have to be elevated boardwalks because we’re back in some swampy areas.”

And residents want those off-road trails.

“It would provide an opportunity to experience some of that wilderness that we really don’t have access to,” Jordan said.

Anthony Pressley, president of the Blackmoor Property Owners Association, concurred, adding that nature trails would allow his neighbors to see hawks, squirrels, eagles and other birds and animals while taking a stroll.

“The wildlife is amazing around here,” he said.

Pressley said his neighbors have long sought to build a path from S.C. 707 to their clubhouse. Blackmoor has nearly 350 homes, including many occupied by retirees who like to walk for exercise.

“If you go other places, other areas, you find things like that,” he said of the trails. “It really does add to the community. It makes a more vibrant community. It gives people something to do other than play golf all the time.”

Despite the demand for the paths, there’s one catch. The trail system is projected to cost nearly $20 million and no money has been set aside to pay for it.

So far, however, residents haven’t wavered in their support.

“They’re realistic,” Danford said. “They’re well aware that this is a long range plan. This isn’t something that is going to be done in five years, 10 years. We’re looking at 20 years of infrastructure improvements.”

As for where the trails would be built, that’s another challenge. The county doesn’t own any of the land that would hold the paths.

Some of the property is controlled by the state Department of Transportation and other acreage is owned by the Grand Strand Water and Sewer Authority. There’s also private land involved, but Danford said all the stakeholders like the concept.

“They’ve seen the maps,” he said. “They’ve seen the trails and they’ve all had a generally favorable response and said that they’d be willing to work with us if it’s something that we can get funded.”

Danford noted that the inclusion of nature trails allows the county to pursue grants that aren’t available for sidewalk projects.

The path plan features trails and elevated boardwalks along Prince Creek, multipurpose paths down Scipio Lane, sidewalks on Enterprise Road and paths along Holmestown Road, among other projects.

One thoroughfare, the Socastee Park Connector, would link Tern Hall Drive with Socastee Park. That would allow more residents to access the park’s amenities, and folks like Housner, the amateur disc golf player, are encouraged by the prospect of seeing more foot traffic there.

“It’s a great idea,” he said. “It’s nice to have things like that to take advantage of.”

This story was originally published December 9, 2015 at 1:02 PM with the headline "Horry County unveils plan for building 33 miles of bike paths, sidewalks and nature trails in Burgess."