The Atlantic Beach Bike Fest crowd at 6 p.m. Saturday compared to the noon crowd was as different as night and day. Hundreds packed into the four block town as the sun got closer to setting, and traffic congestion sprawled on highway 17 causing bumper to bumper traffic in both north and southbound lanes stretching from Highway 22 to Main Street.
"The traffic was bad, we had to wait like 30 minutes," Chastity Bass said.
Lt. Guy Johnson with North Myrtle Beach police says there's about 35 officers patroling. Officers from SLED and S.C. Highway Patrol are assisting.
Last year, organizers estimated 50,000 people would jam into the four blocks of Atlantic Beach during bike fest. This year, it looks like more of the same.
Lt. Joe Turner with North Myrtle Beach says that it's a similar size crowd, but more spread out.
"Which is a good thing. Anytime you congregate people in a small area and the cup kind of runs over, you start having more traffic issues. You spread them out, things tend to flow a little smoother," he said.
