A Coral Drive sidewalk, new downtown crosswalks and an additional north end parking lot are a few of the transportation projects the Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen could oversee in 2015.
The board’s immediate task is deciding how to spend a $292,000 Surface Transportation Project-Direct Apportionment (STP-DA) grant the town received from the Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization (WMPO). A Coral Drive sidewalk project is the likeliest recipient of part of the money.
The $100,000–$150,000 project was first proposed several months ago, but town leaders put it on hold so town staff could research possible uses for the remaining funds. During the board of aldermen’s Feb. 14 annual retreat, town manager Tim Owens presented the board with a $40,000 crosswalk project that could be paired with the Coral Drive sidewalk.
While the aldermen agreed several of the current crosswalks in the town’s downtown district are unsafe for pedestrians, they felt they could not determine a safer point of crossing without the expertise of a consultant.
Since that process would further hold up the construction of the proposed sidewalk, Mayor Bill Blair suggested the board vote on a Coral Drive sidewalk during its March 12 meeting and return the rest of the money to the WMPO.
“We’ve been talking about this for a year,” Blair said. “We need to accelerate the process.”
If the item does appear on the March meeting agenda, there will also be a public hearing so citizens can voice opinions.
There are residents on both sides of the issue, as evidenced by a Nov. 13, 2014, public hearing regarding the proposed project. While the sidewalk would increase safety for children walking to Wrightsville Beach School, it would intrude into the North Carolina Department of Transportation right-of-way that Coral Drive residents consider part of their yard.
If the remaining part of the STP-DA grant is not allocated for crosswalks improvements, that project could eventually be incorporated into a downtown streetscape master plan, which would include landscaping, handicap ramps, medians, a decorative sidewalk and underground utility work. Owens said the town could not create such a plan without community input and the help of a transportation planner.
The downtown improvements would accompany the community transportation plan adopted by the town in 2013. The plan includes recommendations and cost estimates for projects such as a wooden walkway under the Heide-Trask Drawbridge, a dual-lane roundabout at the intersection of Causeway Drive and Salisbury Street, and a widening of the John Nesbitt Loop to 10 feet wherever feasible.
During the board’s retreat, Alderwoman Lisa Weeks said when discussing long-term transportation projects the aldermen should especially consider methods of improving traffic flow.
“They’re projecting the county is going to grow another 50,000 people and you see all the construction going on across the bridge,” she said. “Taking a look at our traffic patterns is something we need to look at hard . . . and there’s been some discussion looking at an alternate route off the beach.”
One project that could move forward independent of a master plan is the construction of about 20 new parking spaces at the north end of the island. The project would be relatively inexpensive, Owens said, so it could be completed without a grant. The only hurdle is determining how much of that land the town actually owns.
Since dredging moved the inlet north in the early 2000s, the division of town property from county property is unclear. The next step in the project, Owens said, is hiring a surveyor to identify that boundary. Then, an engineer would draw a conceptual design.
“It would mainly be gravel. … I think you would end up modifying that cul-de-sac a little bit and putting a rounded parking area . . . where you would just pull in angled,” Owens said during a Feb. 16 phone interview.
The board seemed supportive of the initial concept, but Owens said surveying and designing the lot would take several months.
“It might be a good fall project,” he said.
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