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There is no getting around it, most areas in and around Wilmington will experience some frequent traffic congestion and backups, no matter which way you are headed. But it is worth mentioning that commutes to and from Wilmington that take you west of Wilmington, such as the Leland, Belville areas will involve some patience and delays....frequently. My job takes me to several counties in and surrounding Wilmington daily, but the worst commute to and from Wilmington is definitely 74/76 into or out of Wilmington. I usually can head out of Wilmington West to 74/76 towards Leland/Belville during morning rush hour without much problems, unless there is an accident, but very frequently, the eastbound traffic headed into Wilmington is at a creeping pace. If you will be commuting to Wilmington from the west in the morning it is something to take into consideration.
Unusual, but an example of the traffic and congestion coming and going from areas west of Wilmington was today on my drive back to Wilmington. After creeping for about 45 minutes to get to the bridge to cross over into Wilmington, the traffic came to a halt, due to an accident. After sitting there for more than 20 minutes seeing no cars moving an inch, I turned around and drove 60 miles back west and the north and then east to get into Wilmington. There are not alot of easy quick alternatives to get to Wilmington if you are coming from the west unless you have a boat!
We discovered a third bridge the other day. If you are on the north end of Wilmington, go up to 140 (where it crosses Castle Hayne Rd near GE) and follow it to where it comes into 421. This puts you on the above the Battleship on the Leland side. Liz
We discovered a third bridge the other day. If you are on the north end of Wilmington, go up to 140 (where it crosses Castle Hayne Rd near GE) and follow it to where it comes into 421. This puts you on the above the Battleship on the Leland side. Liz
Hey Liz,
I travel that I17 bypass frequently, but then you have to get onto 421 and must cross the bridge to get to the I74/I76 ramp toward Leland, and the problems start from there, coming or going. I live on the North end of Wilmington, just into Pender County, off I17. As far as I can tell, there is no other way to get from I74/76 from Leland into Wilmington without a boat, or going back to 87 North to Hwy 11, to 210 towards 421 or continue on to Rocky Point to I40. If anyone has an alternate route that is not too far off the beaten path, I would love to hear about it. It is planned that the I17 bypass from I17 to Hwy 421 is to continue at some point over to Leland and hook into I74/76 which would be a very great help. Hope it will be sooner rather than later!
At least you don't have to fight the two drawbridges going that route. Yes, you still feed into 74/76 just before the Brunswick River but you avoid the drawbridges which seem to be a big part of the hassle.
I'm not sure what the answer is..not with the amount of growth that Brunswick County is expecting each year. Even if they started today, we wouldn't see any solid results for a couple of years. Did you know that the Wilmington Star stated that Brunswick County had a projected growth rate of 19 people per DAY??
Firetrucks and other emergency vehicles have to go the wrong way on the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge at times to get to accident victims or car fires blocking both lanes on one side of the bridge.
And the bridge has no real shoulders or median to move cars and trucks out of the way.
Quote:
The bridge's four lanes carry more than 64,000 cars a day, according to the latest traffic counts from the Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization, which determines transportation priorities for the region.
I travel a different direction, but I cross that Wooster/Dawson and 3rd Street intersection every morning & afternoon, and yesterday was unusually bad. Traffic was backed up much, much farther than usual. I re-routed to 5th Street, and no worries.
I'm interested to see if they are going to build this $1 billion "Cape Fear Skyway" bridge that will connect 17 to Independence Blvd.
I travel a different direction, but I cross that Wooster/Dawson and 3rd Street intersection every morning & afternoon, and yesterday was unusually bad. Traffic was backed up much, much farther than usual. I re-routed to 5th Street, and no worries.
I'm interested to see if they are going to build this $1 billion "Cape Fear Skyway" bridge that will connect 17 to Independence Blvd.
Yes it was the worst I have encountered. I heard there were 3 accidents and alot of street flooding in the flood prone areas. I don't know any accident details but can just imagine the rain had something to do with at least some of them. It reminded me of living up north and the first snowfall there were always more accidents than usual....people acted like they had never seen or driven on snow before...or at least forgot. I envisioned the same happened in Wilmington yesterday as we have had such little rain in like...forever : )
What happened? Granted, I only spent 6 years in the area (96-02), but I never encountered any kind of trffic issues like that. We drove 74/76 nearly every other week visiting my wife's family in Lumberton or my buddies in Charlotte.
Is the influx of traffic due to growth in the area?
Ceezer, I've only been here since May but this area has exploded in growth it seems. And most of the growth seems to be concentrated right in the Leland/Belville area for now. Other areas are growing in Brunswick but with some major subdivisions going in right along the Hwy 17 strip off where 74/76goes by it, it is just unreal.
What happened? Granted, I only spent 6 years in the area (96-02), but I never encountered any kind of trffic issues like that. We drove 74/76 nearly every other week visiting my wife's family in Lumberton or my buddies in Charlotte.
Is the influx of traffic due to growth in the area?
Lots of development in Brunswick County, and traffic from other commuters west of Wilmington contribute to bad bottle necks in the area b/w Leland & Wilmington for those coming to work and going home, plus, there is no I-40 by-pass that feeds into 74-76 past Leland (it's coming, but years away), so a lot of that interstate traffic feeds into it, added to the fact that 74/76 is the main traffic route from Charlotte to Wilmington and is not yet an interstate, and dealing with drawbride delays from time to time. From Leland to Wilmington, 74/76 should be 6 or 8 lanes, but no plans for that in the near future that I've heard of.
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Traffic was bad in all directions yesterday
