WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH — The projected multi-million dollar bridge replacements project in one beach town could mean motorists will endure longer waits amid heavier congestion while construction takes place.
The Wrightsville Beach Bridge Replacement Committee met on Monday, Nov. 17, to discuss early findings from a traffic impact analysis. The TIA was completed by GFT — Gannett Fleming TranSystems — an infrastructure consulting company that was hired to complete analyses.
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The room was at max capacity; for 18 months the committee has hosted six public meetings covering issues from impact on students to emergency response management, and providing updates on data, analyses, and concurrences with DOT.
Made up of contractors and locals, the committee consists of Chair Neal Andrew of Andrew Consulting Engineers, Brian Eckel (president of Cape Fear Development), WB Board of Adjustment member Carolyn Medley, WB Alderman Hank Miller, Mike Kozlosky (director of WMPO), and local residents Joe Brewer, Steve Bright and Len Anthony. Town manager Haynes Brigman, Police Chief Jason Bishop, Fire Chief Matt Holland, and planning director Tony WIlson are all on the committee as well.
Though time was not allotted for public comment during Monday’s meeting, residents expressed concerns about the impact of the construction on their day-to-day travels. Some worried about being inundated with traffic, while others wanted to know more about conflicts between the bridge construction and the impending overpass NCDOT is planning to build less than 2 miles away at the intersection of Eastwood and Military Cutoff roads. It’s been planned since 2023, with groundbreaking expected in 2027.
“They’re planning on building it at the same time this project is going on in 2028,” someone called out in the meeting.
“Do you know that for sure?” Chair Andrew responded. “We don’t know the exact timing of this project.”
Official plans for the construction of three bridges on Wrightsville Beach — including the drawbridge on US 76 (Causeway Drive) crossing Banks Channel, and two new bridges on US 74 (West Salisbury Street), crossing Lees Cut and Banks Channel — won’t be decided until after a contractor is chosen in January 2026. While the new bridges won’t add more vehicular lanes, it will include 10-to-12-foot multi-use paths and 6-foot bike lanes for pedestrians.
A design and a timeline will be drafted after a contractor is chosen, but the total cost of the project is $105 million, with the construction alone taking up $70 million, all paid for by the DOT’s improvement program.
As first reported by Port City Daily in 2023, construction on three bridges in Wrightsville Beach is anticipated to begin in 2028. Thus, it will create new traffic patterns.
Based on early plans from the NCDOT presented at Monday’s meeting, traffic wait times and lines are anticipated to double and triple in many cases. Exact numbers for the delay times and queue lengths were not provided during the meeting; Port City Daily asked the town, Andrew, and GFT’s engineer for the scope but the information wasn’t received by press.
Engineers primarily referred to traffic patterns at three intersections, including Salisbury Street and Lumina Avenue, Lumina Avenue and Causeway Drive, and at the C. Heide Trask drawbridge on Salisbury Street. Senior Project Engineer Susan Paterson said GFT monitored traffic on Thursdays and Saturdays during June to account for tourist traffic and provide the maximum amount of vehicle projection and how long the lines for the intersections could stretch.
“When you model intersections,” Paterson said, “you want to make sure folks have balanced delays. That means if you’re coming in from the side street, you’re waiting about the same amount of time as somebody coming on the main street for your turn to go at the signal.”
According to Paterson, the lift bridge will queue the most traffic during closure because only one lane will be available in both directions and Salisbury Street will be closed off. The lift bridge is also the first access point to the island and experiences the most traffic, which according to NCDOT is 25,000 in 2025 on the traffic volume map.
The TIA found just past the drawbridge, at the intersection of Salisbury Street and Causeway Drive, 2,500 vehicles line up from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., on Thursdays. From 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., the TIA determined 2,500 vehicles traveled through, while on Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., it consisted of 3,500. GFT used Synchro and SimTraffic, both software packages, to perform the analyses.
When the drawbridge is being replaced, Salisbury Street will be closed.
Currently, at Causeway Drive and Lumina Avenue, queuing is only expected to be a couple hundred feet in morning and afternoon peak periods, Paterson explained.
However, a map provided by GFT shows lines of traffic could double or triple on Waynick Boulevard and Lumina Avenue, when the Causeway Drive and Salisbury Street bridges close.
Two solutions were suggested to help mitigate traffic, particularly on Causeway Drive: ensuring traffic signals are changing at an equal frequency, to keep both main and side streets filtering out vehicles, and lane changes.
For instance, Paterson mapped out the lanes and directions at the curve of Waynick Boulevard, Causeway Drive, and Lumina Avenue. The current layout includes two eastbound lanes that diverge — to become one lane onto Waynick Boulevard and one lane onto Lumina Avenue. There are two westbound lanes.
Paterson suggested making the westbound one lane on Lumina Avenue prior to the intersection, but it would become two after merging onto Causeway Drive. The eastbound side would gain an extra lane on Lumina Avenue.
“What that does is it removes the amount of time that was taken up at the signal for this movement and gives more time to shove more people onto the island,” Paterson said. “So there are way less queues on Causeway. Now, it does push the queues on Lumina longer because now they only have one.”
Another concern from residents came over accessibility for emergency response, though the committee noted the town is working on finding a consultant to figure out the impact and how to mitigate any issues during development.
The fire department has not yet conducted an analysis on call volume and mapping due to system transitions. The department is currently in the process of switching data storage software, with emergency call and response information more accessible to staff. Because this transition is underway, the information needed to mitigate issues on future emergency responses is yet available. When the analysis is complete, it will allow the town to mitigate the impact of the construction on emergency services within Wrightsville Beach.
New Hanover County EMS, Wrightsville Beach Police Department, and the Wrightsville Beach Fire Department have been present at meetings and are on the committee. There will be a representative from Wrightsville Beach Elementary at future meetings and the committee also spoke to New Hanover County Schools, in order to get a representative to speak to the traffic impacts on getting students to and from school in a timely fashion.
The bridge division of the Coast Guard will also be present at future meetings, now that the department is no longer on furlough, to discuss regulations with relation to boats and waterways.
Still, the lack of a firm timeline and construction schedule bothered many residents.
Andrew responded: “We can’t spin a bunch of wheels talking about what might happen before we have exact information.”
The next committee meeting is set for March 16 at 10 a.m. After the committee chooses its contractor in January, there is the possibility a February could be called to dig further into timeline and designs.
Questions? Email emily@localdailymedia.com
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