North Myrtle Beach | What to expect on Memorial Day weekend

North Myrtle Beach officials are preparing for there to be more people in town – and earlier – for Memorial Day weekend, but otherwise there are few differences from what residents and tourists saw last year.

City Manager Mike Mahaney said city officials have spoken with real estate agencies and hoteliers that have rented to people planning to attend Atlantic Beach Bikefest this year and they are expected people to begin coming into town on Monday this year.

Mahaney said that means North Myrtle Beach will be crowded earlier than usual this year.

In preparation for the influx of people in town this year, North Myrtle Beach is bringing in about 60 more police officers from other jurisdictions to help patrol on Memorial Day weekend.

North Myrtle Beach has about 70 officers that will be working all weekend and 100 officers from about 25 outside agencies, city spokesman Pat Dowling said.

The rest of the weekend is expected to be the same, Dowling said.

North Myrtle Beach again will have a traffic chute at 30th Avenue South – the entrance to Atlantic Beach Bikefest, which has been used for at least 10 years. S.C. Highway Patrol officers will man the chute.

The chute will go into effect around 5 a.m. May 22 and come down the morning of May 25, Dowling said.

North Myrtle Beach has 10 body cameras now and will purchase 60 more in the fall. Those cameras will equip all uniform patrol. Next year the city plans to purchase another 35 cameras for criminal investigation, training and communications officers as well as beach patrol.

This story was originally published April 26, 2015 at 9:00 PM with the headline "North Myrtle Beach | What to expect on Memorial Day weekend."