How does Myrtle Beach's weekend traffic control work? What we saw downtown
As tourists converge on downtown Myrtle Beach for the summer, the city has implemented its 'flushing' traffic control to keep Ocean Boulevard moving.
'I understand why they have it,' said Uber driver Darin Shaw. 'It's kind of just to help so it's not all clustered, because there'll be over 50 cars, just going in a row. They're all going one mile per hour, and everybody's trying to show off their car.'
According to the Myrtle Beach Police Department, the Summer Emergency Vehicle Access Plan re-routes traffic to improve response times, increase visibility and allow officers to address concerns.
'It's nice if they can travel back and forth, the cops have a much faster response time for, like theft, everything,' said Stephen Mace, who works in an Ocean Boulevard storefront. 'They get here so much quicker.'
It works like this: from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, the northbound lane on Ocean Boulevard is closed from 9th Avenue North to 16th Avenue North. Additionally, between 8th and 9th Avenue North, all traffic is blocked and re-routed to Kings Highway.
Although a road sign alerted motorists of the ban on northbound traffic at 16th Avenue North, and cones with 'no left turn' signs were set up on streets intersecting Ocean Boulevard, some drivers seemed confused.
On Friday evening, The Sun News saw more than 20 cars drive northbound on Ocean Boulevard in the flushing zone. Drivers made confused U-turns or pulled right out of oceanside hotels and businesses.
'It's not common,' said Mace. 'Every once in a while, it's typically somebody that's drunk, but also older people that don't see the signs, then it happens, but every once in a while you get a DUI out of it.'
No officers were out to direct the flow of traffic, and one unmarked police vehicle–a black Dodge Charger–traveled southbound in the northbound lane around 5:40 p.m. Other than that, there didn't appear to be much of a police presence to enforce the traffic pattern early in the evening.
MBPD did not respond to requests for comment on Friday evening. However, around 6 p.m., marked police vehicles began patrolling the area.
'The cops normally hit the beat on the strip around 5,' Mace said. 'You have all the kids revving and people doing whatever the hell they want, and [around] 5, the cops are out here, and everybody kind of settles down a little bit.'
Car alarms blared, trash cans toppled and pedestrian traffic slammed to a stop when a brief but powerful summer storm hit around 6:30 p.m. But police presence remained as rain poured down, as patrols continued and a recruitment truck set up between lanes around 14th Avenue North.
Over the course of the evening, The Sun News witnessed one traffic stop for a car traveling north in the flushing zone, around 7:20 p.m.
By 10 p.m., two officers were set up between lanes on the 900 block of North Ocean's Boulevard near the location of the April 26 shooting where 11 people were injured. In addition to the MBPD cars, The Sun News saw at least one Horry County Sheriff's Office van and one State Trooper vehicle on Ocean Boulevard.
But the limited traffic pattern can complicate work for rideshare drivers in the area.
'When this is going on right here, it's hard it's hard to even pick people up off the boulevard, when there's tons of trips on the boulevard,' said Shaw.
The city does have designated rideshare pick-up spots adjacent to Ocean Boulevard on Withers Alley, but it's difficult to direct 'clueless' customers unfamiliar with the area and convince them to meet there.
To get to customers on the oceanside of the boulevard in the flushing zone, Shaw said he has to 'weasel' his way to their location and turn on his hazards.
'If I were to go to the designated spots that the city has, it's gonna piss off the customer, because they have to walk all the way to the car,' Shaw said. 'It could be frustrating and prevent us from getting tips, and that's pretty much our main source of income, because Uber takes about 50 to 60% of the ride fare.'
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