how long does it take to get from carolina beach/kure beach to wilmington?

[le roi]

Originally Posted by TuborgP

We were going the opposite direction at that time and couldn't believe the back up. Do you know why everyone was heading that way at the same time or is that normal?

it is normal for a ton of people to leave the beach in late afternoon, on Saturday, in the summer.

Pleasure Island has one bridge leading in and out, just like Wrightsville -- but it has far, far more parking than Wrightsville, so the traffic can be extreme.

not to mention, i hear they changed the traffic patterns in that area to help bike transportation, which increased auto congestion.

back when I used to visit that area, I'd take River Road down from downtown. As soon as you get over the bridge into C.B., take a right onto Dow Road, and head all the way down to Kure Beach or Fort Fisher.

[movedtothecoast]

the back-up is solely due to the new traffic pattern , huge mistake
on Carolina beach's account.
they actually payed to have a traffic /flow study done in march/april, forgetting
about summer traffic.

you should def count on 25-30 minutes from Kure to Wilmington.

[TuborgP]

Originally Posted by le roi

it is normal for a ton of people to leave the beach in late afternoon, on Saturday, in the summer.

Pleasure Island has one bridge leading in and out, just like Wrightsville -- but it has far, far more parking than Wrightsville, so the traffic can be extreme.

not to mention, i hear they changed the traffic patterns in that area to help bike transportation, which increased auto congestion.

back when I used to visit that area, I'd take River Road down from downtown. As soon as you get over the bridge into C.B., take a right onto Dow Road, and head all the way down to Kure Beach or Fort Fisher.

We just bought a place in Carolina Beach and I didn't take Dow road to Big Daddy's but did take it back to duck the traffic. I wondered if it was just people leaving the beach especially Fort Fisher because of the available parking.

[bellafarfalle]

Originally Posted by TuborgP

We were going the opposite direction at that time and couldn't believe the back up. Do you know why everyone was heading that way at the same time or is that normal?

Its called SUMMERTIME in Carolina Beach....

[TuborgP]

Originally Posted by bellafarfalle

Its called SUMMERTIME in Carolina Beach....

The interesting thing is that we have stayed there before with a 3:00 check in time on Saturday and were staying on the beach. We usually hit the beach right away and never went out until maybe Sunday night which means we missed a lot of it. We have since decided that we will venture around week days and only go to specific things on weekend like the Farmers Market etc etc. However as was said using Dow road ducks most of it. Really weekdays will be fine with us and our sons and their families can fight most weekend traffic. We also know to avoid leaving or arriving to the island during Wilmington rush hour. The beach area around where we stay has never been crowded nor were all the units around us occupied so I didn't really know til the last trip. Lesson learned.