Members of City Council, the Downtown Redevelopment Corporation and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee took a walking tour around the downtown area Tuesday.
The group started on the corner of 9th Avenue and Broadway and looped around to finish up on 8th Avenue. This was the first time city members had collectively looked at the Superblock from a walkability stand point.
The big take away was the lack of pedestrian crossings and bike paths. No plans were set in stone, but they discussed the option of closing roads to pedestrians only and condensing N. Kings Highway from six lanes down to four.
“Obviously we all say public safety first,” Councilwoman Mary Jeffcoat said. “And so if we really want to make this area safer for pedestrians we have to make some hard decisions about the road.”
House Parts, a home improvement store on the corner of Kings, has been open for twelve years. Owner Lacy Paulussen has a perfect view of people trying to navigate the downtown streets.
“They don’t know how to maneuver these couple little blocks here with all the islands in the road,” Paulussen said. Myrtle Beach leaders agree it is a problem, with Jeffcoat saying the reason “nobody comes downtown” is because it is not pedestrian friendly.
Tuesday’s group agreed the area is also not very welcoming to those on two wheels. “No bicycle lanes whatsoever,” said Tim Russo, Chairman of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee. “So how do bicycles fit into this retransformation of the Superblock?” he questioned.
Paulussen said better signage could mean better accessibility. “What we’d like to see is the people that are leisurely walking down the Boulevard to be able to walk back a block or two and visit the shop.”
Any projects would still require funding sources and approval by the city. The Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee said this walkability study was one of the final steps in completing their master plan, which they hope to present to city council in the coming months.
