Page "Sunset Beach, North Carolina" Paragraph 7

Since most of Sunset Beach and the adjoining Bird Island coastal reserve encompass a barrier island, the only way to get there from the mainland was by crossing a pontoon bridge ( swing bridge ) straddling the Intracoastal Waterway and adjacent marshland.

It was a wooden structure that could only hold one lane of traffic at any given time, and was the only one of its kind still in use along the East Coast until 2010.

During the day, traffic would be stopped every hour, on the hour, and the bridge would open to boat traffic on the waterway for 10 minutes.

At 10 minutes after the hour, every hour, the bridge would reopen for vehicular traffic again for 50 minutes.

While this caused headaches for those trying to get on or off the island, many locals said the bridge did however give the town a more relaxed feel.

Historically, this had been in stark contrast to the rapid growth affecting other beach communities along the Grand Strand.