The steel grating on Heide Trask Drawbridge could be getting an upgrade to make it more bike friendly.
In an email to Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen and town staff, town manager Tim Owens wrote that the North Carolina Department of Transportation has been awarded federal funding to make changes to the bridge. The existing grate will be retrofit with a steel plate with a non-skid surface, the email said. An official from the state transportation department said the plates would be approximately 30 inches wide, allowing for a safer crossing for bicycle riders. The bridge spans the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway.
The change comes after the town sent the transportation department several letters from bicyclists about their experiences crossing the bridge. One rider said that despite the dangers to pedestrians, he will ride on the sidewalk instead of the street, which he considered “the lesser of the evils.” Another said he was in a bike accident due to the wet grate. Still another reported that she was too afraid to use the bridge while on bicycle.
“If this bridge is wet it is treacherous,” one bicyclist wrote. “Cars don’t always give much road space traveling over the bridge and I have almost slid right into the path of one. Very, very scary. I have witnesses other cyclists sliding out of control as well.”
A state official wrote that the project was targeted for winter 2016.
