Just how many exits will the Bikefest traffic loop have? To be determined

Traffic and safety plans for the Memorial Day weekend are shaping up to look a lot like last year with the return of a 23-mile traffic loop. But exactly when the loop will be activated, how many exits it will have and how drivers will know where to go are details that will be hammered out by a task force in the months to come.

“Those are the things that we’ll start talking about in the task force meetings,” Horry County Emergency Management Director Randy Webster said after a Coastal Alliance meeting Wednesday at Myrtle Beach City Hall.

The alliance -- including mayors from Myrtle Beach, Surfside Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Atlantic Beach, Briarcliffe Acres and the chairman of Horry County Council -- formed a countywide task force in 2014 to address safety during the Memorial Day weekend. Residents and state leaders had called for the end of the Atlantic Beach Bikefest, which occurs during Memorial Day weekend, after three people died and seven were injured in eight shootings on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach during Memorial Day weekend in 2014.

The task force is comprised of leaders from eight municipalities, state agencies, Coastal Carolina University and business groups and is set to hold its first meeting of 2016 on Jan. 14. Webster said the force would probably meet monthly and could meet more often, if needed, as one of the holiday weekend approaches.

Webster told the Coastal Alliance they had great successes last year, but there is room for improvements in areas like communication, staffing for an emergency operations center, surveillance and intelligence.

“You can always improve on better communications between organizations and better overall communications to make sure the public is well informed as to what is going on,” Webster said.

Recommendations were listed in a Task Force After Action Report shared for the first time publicly with the Coastal Alliance on Wednesday.

“The report’s been ready for a little while we’ve just been waiting for this meeting to actually release the report since this is the organization that put together the task force to begin with,” Webster said. “Now we’re just ready to move forward with our future task force meetings again.”

The task force will address the recommendations in upcoming meetings.

Webster told the alliance, “The goal that was set forth by this body appeared to be met to provide a safe atmosphere for the first responders, community and participants.”

He said the task force “was not put together as a means to have command and control. It was put together as a means to help fill the gaps between each of the jurisdictions.”

With each municipality having its own jurisdiction, laws to enforce and other nuances, bridging the gaps to work together was one of their biggest challenges and successes, Webster said.

“Moving forward, we’ll continue that. The nice piece is we’re not starting from ground zero,” he said. “We’ll be able to move forward rather quickly and continue on what should be the most successful event this year in terms of the task force and using the same goal that we used last year.”

But because things turned out so well last year, Webster said, he didn’t want communities or the task force to get complacent.

“It was a good year last year and let’s hope that we can continue that trend because anything can happen at any given time,” he said. “I think we’ll go through the same motions that we did before. Make sure we get the message out and make sure that we correct any of the issues that we had.”

One issue appeared on the first night of the traffic loop as travelers found it difficult or near impossible to get to and from the airport through Harrelson Boulevard. The study recommends improving communication with the Myrtle Beach International Airport regarding airport traffic during the loop; having a sign along U.S. 17 Bypass South telling motorists traveling to the airport to take the Farrow exit and use a U-turn lane; creating better access for commercial vehicles to and from the airport; and allowing vehicles to access the airport from both directions on Harrelson Boulevard.

“I think there’s just issues that we have to continually make sure we’re addressing so that the community feels safe and that the participants have a great time while they’re here,” Webster said.

The Bikefest Task Force is comprised of the following government agencies and organizations: town of Atlantic Beach, town of Aynor, town of Briarcliffe Acres, city of Conway, Horry County government, city of Myrtle Beach, city of North Myrtle Beach, town of Surfside Beach, state of South Carolina Law Enforcement agencies (SLED, SCHP, etc.) and the South Carolina Emergency Management Division, Coastal Carolina University, Myrtle Beach Area Hospitality Association and the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.

This story was originally published January 6, 2016 at 6:52 PM with the headline "Just how many exits will the Bikefest traffic loop have? To be determined."