The Memorial Day Weekend Bikefest Task Force says it’s “good to go” and ready for the thousands of visitors traveling to the Grand Strand coast for the holiday weekend.
The Bikefest Task Force met throughout the day Wednesday to finalize traffic loop plans, signage wording and community outreach initiatives. All agencies involved in planning took part in a tabletop that tested months of emergency and communication planning.
“We did our tabletop exercise [Wednesday] to go through the plan to figure out ‘Are we on target or are we not?’ and we very much are. Everything went very well. We looked at different potential scenarios that could happen – some of them harder than others,” Task Force Chairman Randy Webster told News13.
Webster says the exercise addressed response, how to handle multiple problems and incidents and communication. The exercise was not open to the public or media.
The group gathered at the Ted C. Collins Law Enforcement Center Wednesday afternoon to discuss finalizing plans for the upcoming holiday weekend and get planning updates from individual municipalities.
“Right now as we start into our last meeting in April, we’re going to start talking about some scheduling and making sure we’ve got all the facilities – the EOCs, the command posts – properly covered and make sure we have that connectivity with communications and computer communications to get working,” Webster said.
Horry County Spokeswoman Lisa Bourcier says efforts on a major communication campaign are also being finalized. Bourcier says messages regarding a 23-mile traffic loop, laws, and traffic patterns will slowly be put in place as the holiday weekend approaches.
Officials say the state has agreed to bring extra mobile digital message boards in to Horry County for the weekend, in addition to giving access to its overhead digital message boards. Bourcier says the boards will be strategically placed across the county and used to warn people of traffic changes, accidents and emergencies.
Next week, the county expects to have several rack cards printed for use at Myrtle Beach International Airport, following concerns of the 23-mile traffic loop impacting travel around the facility.
“We do have rack cards that were printed for the airport. We do have several flights that will be landing during the loop time, so we want to make sure the residents know if they’re picking up people or flying back in to town during that, how to maneuver to get back to where they need to be,” Bourcier explained. “Those cards will be printed up next week.”
The county is also finalizing a digital billboard campaign aimed at holiday weekend safety messages and information on the traffic loop. Bourcier tells News13 some local advertising companies have agreed to let the county use unused, unsold billboard spaces for the campaign during Memorial Day Weekend.
Residents will have the chance to learn more about the county’s efforts and address officials during a series of three Memorial Day Bikefest business/community meetings. Meetings will be held:
Wednesday, April 8 at 9 a.m.
Original Benjamin’s Calabash Restaurant
9593 North Kings Highway, Myrtle Beach
Tuesday, April 14 at 9 a.m.
Beach Church
557 George Bishop Parkway, Myrtle Beach
Tuesday, April 14 at 5 p.m.
South Strand Recreation Center
9650 Scipio Lane, Myrtle Beach
Officials say the three meetings are intended for community members “that may live or have businesses near the 23-mile extended traffic loop.” For more information, call (843) 915-5390.