Wrightsville Beach bridge closure to change access to The Loop

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - The state Department of Transportation is set to close the Lee’s Cut bridge on West Salisbury Street on Nov. 30, the first closure in the Wrightsville Beach bridge replacement project.

The Wrightsville Beach Bridge Replacement Project is led by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT). Crews will be replacing three aging bridges in Wrightsville Beach.

In October, NCDOT awarded nearly $9 million to a construction company for phase 1 of the project. Phase 1, includes the Lee’s Cut bridge on West Salisbury. Waterline relocation has been underway since then in preparation for the bridge demolition.

Neal Andrew, chairman of the bridge replacement committee, said this point has been a long time coming, noting that meetings on the bridge replacement have been going on for the past two years.

“We feel like we have done a lot of work to try and help the town be prepared and get the residents and business owners prepared,” Andrew said. “So we are getting to the point where preparations are getting to a close and it’s time to get underway.”

When the closure takes effect, the popular 2.5-mile loop will be cut off, leaving the shorter loop around the town municipal area.

Posts on social media have said the loop will not be accessible for walkers or runners. However, people will still be able to access the loop, but access over the Lee’s Cut bridge will be cut off, so part of the loop will be restricted.

Work on the Lee’s Cut bridge should be complete by the summer of 2027. Crews will then move on to the Salisbury Street bridge over Banks Channel and the Causeway Drive bridge.

The full project will take about four years to complete.

Emergency response planning

Due to the bridge closures impacting traffic patterns, Andrew said the town hired an outside consultant to help shape the police and fire chiefs’ plan for emergency response during construction.

According to Andrew, town leaders have gathered a five-year average of response times from different parts of the island. Once the bridge closes, they will compare those numbers to see if response times are holding steady and what needs to change if they are not.

Andrew said the goal is to position a fire and EMS team on the main island. That is still being worked out and would require the town to pay for additional staff.

“This first closure will happen in the off season for the town. That will give the town some additional time to practice, so to speak, what we need to be improving on before we get into peak season,” Andrew said. “The comparisons of response times, staffing levels and predeployed staff on different parts of the island will all come into play,” Andrew said.

Andrew said staffing levels and where crews are positioned on the island will play a role as the town compares response times. He said no impact is the goal the town is working toward.

According to NCDOT, the total cost of the project is estimated $105 million. More information on the bridge replacement can be found here.