MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW)-The National Association of Realtors issued a grant to the city of Myrtle Beach to study the walkability of sidewalks. On Tuesday, there will be a meeting and audit of sidewalks and bike lanes along Kings Highway.
Every year, millions of people come to Myrtle Beach and millions stay at the ocean front properties. Many of those places are in walking distance of Kings Highway but Kings Highway has many closed down store fronts. There are several purposes for this study. The main one is to boost the economy on Kings Highway.
When people can safely walk and bike, they’re more likely to check out what’s along Kings Highway. As it is now, many sidewalks are overgrown with landscape. They’re cracked and dangerous in some areas and city officials say there should be more crosswalks.
City planner Kelly Mezzapelle says small improvements like this would be great for the millennials, the retirees and the tourists.
“The tourists need the area to be walkable as well. When people go on vacation, they don’t like to have to get in their cars and drive around roads they’re not familiar with and spend valuable vacation time driving up and down up and down aisles and looking for places to park and digging for change in their pocket for the meters. If they could just walk to where they needed to go it benefits everybody.”
The National Association of Realtors is funding this study. This is the first one to be done so no one is sure how long it will take to get the audit back. The city planner told me she hopes sometime within six months. Count on News13 for updates.