Downtown Wilmington residents raising concerns about semi-trucks using 3rd Street for bridge detour

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - As the work on the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge ramps up, there are barriers up along 3rd Street to block off median crossovers to help with traffic flow downtown.

But neighbors are now telling WECT semi-trucks are using 3rd Street as a cut-through, instead of following the route they’re supposed to take, on College Road.

Now, neighbors expressing their concerns about safety downtown.

One woman says she walks to work a few days a week and she expected there to be a higher volume of traffic along 3rd Street while the lane closures are happening over the next few months, but it’s getting more difficult for her to cross over 3rd Street with many drivers not paying attention.

Susan Dillard says with the increased traffic there are cars turning into the cross walk while she has the right of way, sometimes forcing her to stop in the middle of the crosswalk as the light is changing because cars don’t stop to let her across the street. Despite all of the signs telling truck drivers to use College Road, there are some semi-trucks going down 3rd Street, sometimes making it difficult for other drivers to see around them. Now she’s hoping to see some change as the lane closures continue for the next few months.

“They’re not going slow. And I wish they would just go down College [Road]. I understand they are trying to get their job done, but as you can see there is a high volume here without them and it just gets worse,” Dillard said. “People live here. I know it’s a highway, but there are people that call this home. It’s a residential [area], we’ve raised children here, we try to go to work here, so, this is not just a byway, this is our home.”

The Wilmington Police Department released the following statement about the situation Friday reminding commercial vehicle operators to stay on designated truck routes:

“The Wilmington Police Department’s Traffic Enforcement Unit is working together with the North Carolina Highway Patrol in the area of 3rd and Davis St. to remind and detour commercial motor vehicles from traveling down 3rd St. The NCDOT Cape Fear Memorial Bridge preservation project affects everyone traveling the roads in our community. WPD and partner agencies are doing our part to mitigate challenges that are a result of the NCDOT work that is currently being done on the bridge. We want to remind all operators of commercial motor vehicles of two things. First, stay on designated truck routes provided by appropriate signage that has been posted on the roadways and online. If you are driving or know someone driving a commercial motor vehicle and you are using a GPS navigation system, make sure that navigation system is programmed properly for being used in a commercial motor vehicle. As a reminder, commercial vehicle drivers are subject to being cited for traveling on roadways that prohibit commercial motor vehicles.”