NSB News photo /NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Traffic was bumper to bumper Saturday. Eastbound, that is.
And though it eased up Easter Sunday, it was still voluminous well into the night, heading out of this seaside city of 25,000.
"It's the price we pay for the tourism," said Deb Dugas, a beachside resident who dislikes the nightitime pub crawls, which she sees as locals from Port Orange, Edgewater and DeLand looking to party.
Where else, but to the beach, would onee would find ceaseless traffic jamswith cars, SUVs, pick-ups and motorcycles.
Literally thousands of people -- locals, day trippers and tourists alike on the hard sands and embracing the curling surf the day before Easter.
"It has been that way for years," Dugas said. "You just accept that when it's a holiday like this, you might as well leave the car in the garage because you arewn't going to be going any where unless you want to get tied uop in that mess."
"It has been that way for years," Dugas said. "You just accept that when it's a holiday like this, you might as well leave the car in the garage because you arewn't going to be going any where unless you want to get tied uop in that mess."
It wasn't just the beach that was gridlocked, though.
State Road 44, the main route from Interstates 95 and 4 to the beach for daytrippers was packed, too.
Bumper-to-bumper, in fact.
So were the convenience stores, fast food restaurant takeouts and supermarkets, along the 44 corridor, with much of the traffic coming across the South Causeway Bridge, which connects 44 with the beachside and the nearby North Causeway, which provides a direct route to the Flagler Avenue Approach, the primary beach ramp.
What makes it worse, is the North Causeway is a draw bridge and east of it is a four-way traffic light at the intersection of Pensinsula Drive and Flagler Avenue. The traffic was heavy throughout the day, finally easing up about 6 p.m. Traffic was not as badtraffic-wise, considering many locakls were attending Easter Sunday worship services. But still, the traffic was heavier than it had been in recent weeks.
Of course, Saturday was not free of danger. As previously reported by NSB News, A 23-year-old Orlando woman was hit by a car while sunbathing on a blanket in between parked cars near the South Jetty.
Her injuries weren't considered life threatening, Beach Patrol officials said.
Beach-goers are prohibited from sitting in between parked cars for this very reason - safety. But this safety rule is largely ignored by the Volusia County Beach Patrol, focused on rip current rescues, lost kids and jelly fish stings. And yes, the occasional shark bite.
Though not the man-eating kind like the great white in the 1970s movie "Jaws."