Why Wilmington needs a new bridge across the Cape Fear River.

[TLT]

This is your typical rush hour traffic on a friday morning coming from Brunswick County into Wilmington by the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge. The bridge was recently deemed structual obsolete because it was built to carry 60,000 trips a day and it currently is carrying 64,000 trips a day.

[NcSc74]

This is your typical rush hour traffic on a friday morning coming from Brunswick County into Wilmington by the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge. The bridge was recently deemed structual obsolete because it was built to carry 60,000 trips a day and it currently is carrying 64,000 trips a day.

[davidals]

This is your typical rush hour traffic on a friday morning coming from Brunswick County into Wilmington by the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge. The bridge was recently deemed structual obsolete because it was built to carry 60,000 trips a day and it currently is carrying 64,000 trips a day.

[NCMike1981]

Are you sure that pic wasn't taken right after the bridge was closed so a ship could cross under the bridge? Traffic always backed up when that happened. Wow that looks bad...

[TLT]

Are you sure that pic wasn't taken right after the bridge was closed so a ship could cross under the bridge? Traffic always backed up when that happened. Wow that looks bad...

[triadcat]

It's why the CF Skyway is needed, AND why Wilmington should seriously start to think mass transit/rail now, even if it isn't needed for a few decades. Apart from higher density in-city (one market for mass transit), there are only a couple corridors for future high-density suburban growth: up 40 into Pender, and west up 74 across N Brunswick. 20-30 years hence, given projected population growth, rail and better roads (a combo of both) will be needed in both areas.

High population coastal areas could stand to have better evac routes as well, and the CF Skyway would help in that regard, though if heavy development occurred along the roadway it's effectiveness would definitely be seriously undercut.