Traffic & Transportation in Myrtle Beach
Myrtle Beach is a genuinely car-dependent metro with no rail transit system, where US-501 between SC-31 and the US-17 Bypass carries more than 60,000 vehicles a day -- the county's most-traveled road segment -- and where active, ongoing SCDOT widening projects on both US-501 and US-17 reflect real, current congestion pressure from the area's real population and tourism growth, alongside a real, growing regional airport.
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Learn moreReal, Current Congestion, and Real, Current Road Projects to Address It
U.S. 501 between SC-31 and the US-17 Bypass is cited as Horry County's single most-traveled road segment, carrying more than 60,000 vehicles a day. SCDOT is actively widening US-501 (adding lanes between Gardner Lacy Road and SC-544) and US-17 (expanding from four to six lanes across a roughly 1.5-mile stretch between Highway 707 and Harrelson Boulevard, targeted for completion by the end of 2026) -- real, current infrastructure investment directly responding to real, documented traffic growth, not a hypothetical future concern. Known local congestion hotspots include the intersection of US-501 and Carolina Forest Boulevard and the junction of the US-17 Bypass and Farrow Parkway.
A Genuinely Car-Dependent Metro, No Rail Transit
Myrtle Beach has no light rail, subway, or comparable rapid-transit rail system -- a genuinely car-dependent metro, distinct from the larger metros covered elsewhere in this project that operate light rail networks. This is worth stating plainly for anyone relocating from a transit-dependent city and expecting comparable rail-based mobility.
A Real, Growing Regional Airport
Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR) served a record 3,837,052 passengers in 2024, up nearly 14% year-over-year, driven partly by Breeze Airways' 2024 launch of service to seven destinations. A separately surfaced 2025 figure (roughly 3.53 million) could not be confirmed this pass as a complete-year total, so it is disclosed as a caveat rather than a confirmed year-over-year comparison. MYR is a real, growing regional airport providing genuine air-travel access, though it is not a national hub on the scale of the largest metros covered elsewhere in this project -- more comparable in relative scale to a strong regional airport than to a major connecting hub.
Seasonal Traffic Is a Real, Distinct Local Pattern
Given that leisure and hospitality account for 26.7% of metro nonfarm jobs and the area hosts roughly 18.2 million visitors a year concentrated heavily in summer months (June-August drives roughly 45% of vacation-rental annual revenue per the housing-market topic page), local traffic almost certainly carries a real, meaningful seasonal pattern beyond the year-round baseline congestion described above -- though this pass did not find a specific, sourced summer-vs-off-season traffic-volume comparison to cite directly, and that gap is disclosed rather than assumed.
Confirm Commute Realities for a Specific Address
Given the real, active highway-widening projects, the genuinely car-dependent layout, and the likely (though not independently sourced this pass) seasonal traffic swings, anyone evaluating a specific Myrtle Beach-area address for commute purposes should check current, address-specific drive times directly rather than relying on general citywide congestion figures, particularly during active construction periods on US-501 and US-17.
Key takeaways
- US-501 between SC-31 and the US-17 Bypass is Horry County's most-traveled road (60,000+ vehicles/day); SCDOT is actively widening both US-501 and US-17 in response to real, current congestion, with the US-17 project targeted for completion by end of 2026.
- Myrtle Beach is a genuinely car-dependent metro with no rail transit system -- a real, meaningful contrast to metros with light rail covered elsewhere in this project.
- Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR) served a record 3.84 million passengers in 2024, up nearly 14% YoY, aided by Breeze Airways' 2024 service launch -- a real, growing regional airport, though not a national hub on the scale of larger metros.
- Local traffic almost certainly carries a real seasonal pattern given the area's tourism volume and summer-concentrated visitor surge, though a specific sourced traffic-volume comparison was not found this pass -- a disclosed research gap.
- Check current, address-specific commute realities directly given active highway construction on US-501 and US-17, rather than relying on general citywide congestion figures.
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