What's the latest on the city's Wrightsville Avenue sidewalk and roundabout project?

Madison Lipe, Wilmington StarNews
·2 min read
Part of the City of Wilmington's 2014 Transportation Bonds will go toward improvements along Wrightsville Avenue providing sidewalks and a roundabout.
Part of the City of Wilmington's 2014 Transportation Bonds will go toward improvements along Wrightsville Avenue providing sidewalks and a roundabout.

The city of Wilmington is taking steps to push along the Wrightsville Avenue sidewalk and roundabout project to improve traffic in the area.

The work is a combination of three 2014 Transportation Bond Projects and consists of a new roundabout at Wallace Avenue and an approximately 2.6-mile sidewalk along the north side of Wrightsville Avenue from Independence Boulevard to Hawthorne Drive.

ADA crosswalks at cross streets, signalized pedestrian crossing at College Road and street lighting will be included.

The city is currently working on filing condemnation actions for acquisition of certain right-of-way and easements along the Wrightsville Avenue corridor.

The Wrightsville Avenue sidewalk and roundabout project will go down Wrightsville Avenue, starting at Independence Boulevard and ending at Hawthorne Drive. The roundabout will be located at Wallace Avenue.
The Wrightsville Avenue sidewalk and roundabout project will go down Wrightsville Avenue, starting at Independence Boulevard and ending at Hawthorne Drive. The roundabout will be located at Wallace Avenue.

What's the purpose of the project?

The roundabout is expected to improve traffic flow on Wrightsville Avenue where it backs up east of College Road. The sidewalk is intended to provide safe pedestrian travel between multiple neighborhoods, shopping areas, the University of North Carolina Wilmington, the Cross-City Trail and the River-to-sea bike route.

What's the status?

The design is complete and over 70 property easements have been obtained thus far. Staff is now moving forward with condemnation for over 20 properties.

Once the city obtains the necessary easements and/or properties, city staff will be able to advertise for construction.

Prior to the city contractor mobilization, utility companies will relocate water and sewer, power and telecom along the 2.6-mile route.

The city also had a tree survey conducted to ensure that healthy trees will be saved. The plan is to use an alternate sidewalk and driveway materials to minimize the impact to tree root systems

Providing safe pedestrian connections, minimizing right-of-way acquisition, minimizing impacts to existing utilities and avoiding and preserving existing trees to the extent possible are all priorities that guided the planning and design of the project, according to the city.

What's the estimated timeline?

The city's contractor is expected to begin working on-site in early 2025, according to Dylan Lee with the city of Wilmington's communications office.

Lee said construction is expected to take about a year to complete.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Wrightsville Avenue improvements to include sidewalk and roundabout work