Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo said the city would continue to address “the most important issue for our citizens” by focusing on transportation, citing projects at five interchanges across the city, including Eastwood Road and Military Cutoff. Noting that the five interchanges were all in the process of North Carolina Department of Transportation funding that could total as much as $600 million over the course of the next decade.
The five projects included:
- Eastwood Road and Military Cutoff
- Kerr Avenue and Martin Luther King Parkway
- College Road and Oleander Drive
- Martin Luther King Parkway and College Road
- Kerr Avenue and Market Street.
“I feel that within the next 10 years, all of these interchanges will be either completed or under construction,” Saffo said.
The mayor also said that development projects won’t take away from the city’s focus of making the city more “walkable” or overtake the city’s natural landscapes.
“You the citizens told us that your number one priority was to make our city a more walkable and bikeable city,” said Saffo, citing a citizen survey that supports closer development of residential, retail and work. “We know at times, it may be difficult, and sometimes even painful to watch empty lots develop, but know this: We are a tree city, and we will continue to be a tree city; an even better one than we are today.”
Other highlights from the speech included:
- Saffo touted the success of the Wilmington Convention Center, saying it generated $30 million in revenue over 221 days with events. He also said that with construction of the new Embassy Suites hotel by the convention center, the private investment of $60 million downtown has surpassed the public investment in the convention center. “I’ve been waiting a long time to say that,” Saffo said.
- He said that the upcoming Wells Fargo golf tournament was “a once in a lifetime event that will bring many visitor to our area and expose WIlmington and the surrounding region to a national and international audience.”
- The mayor also said that getting a second season of the TNT show “Good Behavior” will help boost the local film industry.
Keep Airlie Road a rural and scenic byway with its canopy of shade provided by huge oak trees which opens out into an expansive view of intracoastal and Wrightsville Beach as we round the curve! Thank you, Mayor Saffo, for appreciating this scenic road.