With opening of Military Cutoff Road extension, traffic relief coming to northern New Hanover

After five years of construction and $106 million, the Military Cutoff Road extension has finally opened to the public.

The project concept came to be back in 2005 when the N.C. Department of Transportation recognized the need for improved and safer traffic flow in the Market Street corridor. The project was scheduled to be completed in fall 2022 but was met with delays.

At long last, at 11 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 28, the NCDOT held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open the 4-mile-long extension, which starts at Military Cutoff Road south of Gordon Road and ends at Interstate 140. Its opening will allow around 60,000 drivers a day to pass through Military Cutoff Road from Market Street to Interstate 140.

While managing traffic is a core reason for the extension, economic growth for the area was also an imperative part of the decision making for the new roadway.

Find More: Traffic relief in sight for northern New Hanover residents as extension nears completion

“Mobility and connectivity are essential to move people and goods around our state … transportation is about economic benefits,” said Joey Hopkins, the NCDOT secretary.

The interchange at I-140 will carry traffic east toward Hampstead and west toward Interstate 40 and Brunswick County. Hopkins said the extension should provide better access to ports and therefore benefit the people who live, shop and walk in this area.

The new and improved extension includes a multi-use path on the east side of the road between Murrayville Road and Ogden Park, and a sidewalk on the west side of the road.

But there’s still work to be done. The NCDOT is working to widen Gordon Road and construct the Hampstead Bypass that will eventually connect to the extension.

The new roadways will enable more partnerships between local governments, which are “the cornerstone of [Wilmington’s] success,” said Luke Waddell, Wilmington City Council member and a Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization representative.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Military Cutoff Road extension opens in Wilmington, NC