Police and organizers of CCMF talk traffic and safety measures for this weekend

MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – Carolina Country Music Fest is back in Myrtle Beach this week. The event kicks off this Thursday, but police and organizers have been planning for security for months.

Crew members spent much of the day Tuesday setting up an 8ft fence around the venue.

Bob Derkin is the President of Full House Productions, and he says last year they had problems with people gathering on the sidewalk, trying to climb over the fence, and trying to watch the concert for free.

“The fence last year was six feet, and now it’s eight feet. With the amount of people that are coming, I think we had to go a couple of feet higher to maintain the area,” said Derkin.

This year, they’re expecting nearly 24,000 people, and that’s why they’ve worked closely on security and a traffic pattern with Myrtle Beach Police.

Lt. Joey Crosby with Myrtle Beach police says the traffic plan is to make sure all pedestrians and drivers are safe.

“Last year, we learned at closing time it gets rather congested with pedestrians and vehicles on ninth avenue north. So as the last band has started to wind down and close their act out, we’ll deploy officers to Joe White Avenue and 16^th Avenue North,” said Crosby.

Crosby says they plan to close Ocean Boulevard between 8^th Avenue North and 9^th Avenue North and convert Kings Highway to one lane for people traveling North.

“This will allow for traffic coming off of Ocean Boulevard onto 7th North to make a continuous right hand turn onto Kings Highway so that traffic continues to flow,” said Crosby.

If you aren’t going to the festival and want to avoid the traffic altogether, Crosby says there are other options.

“I would utilize Harrelson Boulevard as much as possible or utilize Grissom Parkway to go north and south and arrive at your destination using 21st Avenue North and 38th North going north or 17th Avenue South at the south end of the city,” said Crosby.

You can still buy tickets for the event. According to organizers, the VIP tickets are sold out, but they do still have general admission 3 day passes for $189,  general admission 2 day passes for $169, 1 day general admission passes for $99, 3 day Super VIP tickets for $1,299.00, 2 day Super VIP tickets for $999, and 1 day Super VIP tickets for $499. You can order tickets on their website.

If you’re headed to the festival and are worried about parking, a fundraiser from New Directions of Horry County may help. New Directions has reserved parking spaces at Myrtle Beach City Hall and parking passes for those spaces are available. The passes are $60 and are good for the entire weekend. The passes are first come first serve, so click here to purchase your parking pass.