By land, sea or air, infrastructure has transformed the Wilmington region over the decades, and even more changes are on the way to support future transportation needs. Here’s a look at what’s happened, what’s taking place and what the future holds for some regional projects in the next 20 years.
 

Bridging Focus

 

WHAT'S HAPPENED: Roadway links over the Cape Fear River to bridge New Hanover and Brunswick counties have been a topic of transportation talks for several decades. First with the Cape Fear Skyway project and then the Cape Fear Crossing, backing by the state and funding has long been an issue to support another crossing over the river. After scrapping plans to move forward with planning for a fourth bridge, NCDOT officials turned focus to replacing the aging Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, built in 1969.
 
BIG PROJECTS: A project feasibility study to replace the iconic bridge with upgrades that would support the area’s growing traffic needs and truck volume with the Wilmington port was released this spring. Transportation officials studied four options that could cost between $196 million and $608 million. By comparison, the Cape Fear Crossing study estimated a fourth crossing to cost around $1.1 billion. Even with a fourth crossing, however, the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge still needs to be replaced, Kimes said.
 
“For the next 20 years it’s definitely one of our top priorities,” said Chad Kimes, the N.C. Department of Transportation’s Division 3 engineer. “And it takes a while to get funding, so that’s the reason we’re talking about this project today.”
 
WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS: The feasibility study, however, is just a high-level look at the options and costs. NCDOT will now work to find solutions on how to fund the bridge replacement, Kimes said.
 
Today the bridge supports about 61,000 vehicles a day. Based on traffic forecasts, the bridge 20 years from now will have 83,000 cars traveling on it every day.
 
Once the project gets funding, the detailed environmental process (called the merger process) and the true design can begin. Meanwhile, any major rehabs to the bridge shouldn’t be needed for the next eight to 10 years, officials said. NCDOT, however, performs about $500,000 a year of maintenance to the bridge.
 
“The Cape Fear Memorial Bridge is a critical link between New Hanover and Brunswick counties, and so we need to think now about how we’re going to design, fund and build a replacement bridge,” said Mike Kozlosky, executive director of the Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (WMPO). “We know it needs to be replaced. We know it’s going to be an expensive project. But we need to develop a strategy.”

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Rush Hour

 

WHAT’S HAPPENED: As the area’s population has increased over the years, traffic in the Cape Fear region also has strained the area’s roadway infrastructure. From major roadway projects to intersection upgrades, transportation officials have been planning work that will support the region for years to come.
 
BIG PROJECTS: There have been a number of big projects in construction or completed that will help move people and goods throughout the region.
 
Major projects such as the Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway, which fully opened in 2007, and Interstate 140 Wilmington Bypass, which opened to traffic in 2018, provided connectivity and better access to the region, officials said. The bypass, for example, has provided a “critical connection” between New Hanover and Brunswick counties, Kozlosky said.
 
“That was a tremendous project in itself to have a bypass around the west side of Wilmington,” Kimes said.

The widening of the causeway on U.S. 74/76 in Brunswick County also improved connections by increasing capacity, they said. In Pender County, another major project – a new bridge to Surf City – opened to drivers in late 2018.
 
WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS: Construction is underway on the Military Cutoff Extension project, which aims to take more cars off Market Street.
 
“The project that we have under construction, the Military Cutoff Extension part of I-140, that is just huge for the area as we continue to grow here,” Kimes said.
 
Transportation officials are also trying to narrow down the timing of getting the Hampstead Bypass project in Pender County started.
 
The WMPO completed the final draft of its long-range transportation plan, Cape Fear Moving Forward 2045, Kozlosky said, which is a blueprint for the area’s network looking at all modes of transportation for the next 25 years.
 
The problem, however, with getting some projects going is the funding, he said. At the NCDOT level, funding issues have pushed back a number of key roadway projects already, and more changes in project schedules could take place in the coming months, officials said.
 
“And so it comes down to a matter of resources of what can be funded, how, when and where,” Kozlosky said. “I will say that we’re on the cusp of seeing some transportation improvements that will help mobility and safety throughout the region.”
 
The next big projects, Kimes said, will focus on existing infrastructure, including improvements to major intersections in the Wilmington area, such as the College and Oleander roads junction, which handles about 64,000 vehicles a day, and Military Cutoff and Eastwood roads, which sees 63,000 vehicles a day.

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Port Business

 

WHAT’S HAPPENED: Over the decades, the N.C. State Ports Authority, known as N.C. Ports, has brought increased trade and industry to the region. The Port of Wilmington is one of two deepwater ports in the state but is the only one to handle containerized cargo. The Wilmington port contributes nearly $13 billion to the state’s economy every year. Port officials want to grow that economic impact, increasing infrastructure and capabilities at the port to do so.
 
BIG PROJECTS: N.C. Port’s more than $221 million capital improvement plan has added infrastructure and improvements to the Port of Wilmington over the past four years. There have been two phases of the port’s turning basin expansion, the addition of three neo-Panamax cranes capable of supporting larger cargo ships, major dock improvements, a new refrigerated container yard and an increase in the height of power lines that cross over the Cape Fear River to allow taller ships to pass through.
 
The improvements are already driving some of the largest ships visiting ports along the East Coast to the Wilmington port.
 
“N.C. Ports is already seeing positive impacts from the significant investments in infrastructure we have made over the last few years. From the expansion of the turning basin to berth enhancements to the neo-Panamax cranes, these important initiatives have enabled us to reach several historical milestones in recent months, like the arrival of the Hyundai Hope in May,” said Paul Cozza, N.C. Ports, executive director.
 
That ship – the Hyundai Hope – was one of the largest ever served by the Port of Wilmington.
 
WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS: N.C. Ports plans to see more trade business and more big ships visiting the Wilmington port in the coming years.
 
“We anticipate these impacts continuing well into the future as we increase our capabilities, which will support the Port of Wilmington’s growth as an important gateway for our region, North Carolina and the entire Southeast,” Cozza said.
 
Future capital improvements are underway, including a new gate complex and an upgrade to the ports’ terminal operating system. N.C. Ports is also proposing its Wilmington Harbor enhancement project, which would deepen the harbor from 42 feet to 47 feet to make way for bigger, heavier container ships up the river to the Port of Wilmington. The authority, however, is awaiting federal approvals for the project. Port officials have also said future plans will focus on making improvements to general cargo facilities.

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Terminal Takes Off

 

WHAT’S HAPPENED: More travelers have passed through Wilmington International Airport (ILM) over the years, with a historic milestone reached last year of more than 1 million passengers. The increase in passengers, on top of adding new nonstop flights and a third commercial carrier to the airport last year, has put a strain on the airport building during peak times.
 
“Pre-COVID-19 our ramp, our gate and even TSA checkpoints were nearing capacity,” said Donna Girardot, chair of the New Hanover County Airport Authority.
 
Airport officials said they are hopeful that numbers will return to normal postpandemic. To accommodate future growth, ILM is undertaking the largest capital project in the past 20 years, airport director Julie Wilsey said.
 
BIG PROJECTS: Despite a dramatic dip in air travel this year because of the coronavirus, the airport’s next phase that has been planned for years is still on track, bolstered by more than $21 million from the Federal Aviation Administration that was awarded this year.
 
The $61 million airport terminal expansion and renovation project will grow ILM’s building by 75% (over 162,000 square feet) when finished. It is projected to help ILM grow beyond 525,000 passenger boardings a year, Wilsey said. After kicking off in 2018, ILM’s contractors have completed the project’s first two phases.
 
ILM recently finished upgrades to its ticket counter area, Wilsey said adding, “We have offices and counters for a fourth airline.”
 
Contractors are working on a third contract in the project, which will add more space and bring additional boarding space and gates, as well as add space for concessions and other passenger amenities.
 
The project is “going to really set us up for the next two to three decades of growth,” Girardot said.
 
WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS: The project’s third contract is slated for completion in 2022. There is a fourth phase in planning associated with the terminal expansion project, which would allow the airport to accommodate 740,000 departing passengers a year, Wilsey said.
 
ILM’s growth, she said, will determine if it’s positioned to add the fourth piece to the project, which would double capacity and add more gates, ramps space and a TSA checkpoint.
 
“The airport is an economic engine for this region, and it’s a vital component for businesses looking to relocate to our area,” Girardot said. “We are also concentrating on increasing our leisure and tourism component of the market as well.”