Time For Some Traffic Problems in Wilmington

Time For Some Traffic Problems in Wilmington
A traffic nightmare arrives on the eve of a consequential infrastructure vote and raises questions about Wilmington’s political sway.

by Ben Schachtman and Johanna F. Still
January 11, 2024

On Thursday night, crews will begin work on what is expected to be the region’s most disruptive traffic project in decades: preserving the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge.

One-lane east and westbound nightly closures of the aging bridge start at 7 p.m. and will last through late January. The real work begins on the 28th, a human experiment on stress and patience for an unwilling population of tens of thousands of people as the state Department of Transportation closes all inbound traffic on the bridge to Wilmington for nine weeks. After a brief pause for the Azalea Festival between March 31 and April 8, the state will close outbound traffic for the next six weeks, with the goal of finishing by Memorial Day.

More than 65,000 vehicles cross that bridge daily. And while there is another less-traveled bridge 1.5 miles north, the closures are sure to upend life for commuters. County officials are bracing for it like they would for a hurricane– even staging a multi-agency emergency management post on the ninth floor of the Syline Center, with a view of the headache below.

For many, the traffic quagmire has picked at wounds about how to get the old bridge replaced–and who’s going to pay for it. No agency has committed to fully funding it, even though officials identify it as the area’s top transportation priority.
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https://www.theassemblync.com/politics/traffic-toll-cape-fear-memorial-bridge/

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