With a certificate of occupancy in hand and the telephone system installation underway, public safety facility project manager Steve Dellies said there are just two more hurdles to clear before the Wrightsville Beach fire and police departments may move into their new home sometime after Labor Day.

With $80,000 left in its building fund, the town hopes to purchase furniture for its new 26,000-square-foot public safety facility, but not before it finalizes a plan to improve the facility’s critical path access.

That primary access, at the intersection of Causeway and Bob Sawyer drives will make use of the main entrance to Wrightsville Beach Park. This emergency lane option was one of four proposed by town manager Bob Simpson earlier this year.

The other options would have routed emergency vehicles through adjacent town territory leased by the University of North Carolina Wilmington for one of its marine science labs at costs ranging from a low of $1,500 to $44,500.

The final choice followed Simpson’s deliberations with department heads including fire chief Frank Smith, police chief John Carey, public works director Mike Vukelich and project manager Steve Dellies.

To assist the flow of traffic to and from the park, a widening of Bob Sawyer Drive between Causeway to Fran Russ Drive is proposed at a cost of $12,000.

Chief Smith said the intent of the widening would be to provide a pull over lane to accommodate the passage of fire trucks and during normal use a turn lane for through traffic to town hall, the recreation center and the park.

"You have vehicles which are trying to turn left and trying to turn right," Smith said, "which would reduce the length of any back up on Bob Sawyer but would also give more of an opportunity when emergency vehicles were coming out for all those vehicles to pull to the right and allow the fire trucks to pass on the left."

Smith said the other measures could facilitate pedestrian safety by expanding the sidewalk, creating a second crosswalk and a direct access.

"Relatively easily we can put crosswalks at Fran Russ and . . . create an opening in the fence," Smith said.

There are several low speed humps already in place to slow vehicular traffic on Bob Sawyer Drive, and air horns and sirens are standard features of the department’s apparatus, but the addition of an emergency signal, Smith believes, will enhance the safety of the entire area.

"We feel that’s something that would obviously be advantageous—even if we hadn’t moved—that would make that exit onto Causeway more efficient, safer than it is now," Smith said.

However, he added, his professional and volunteer firefighters are conditioned to driving in congested areas.

"We spend a considerable amount of time with our apparatus drivers training on safe and efficient response, especially with Wrightsville Beach being as small as it is," Smith said, "the difference between 40 miles an hour and 60 miles an hour is just a matter of seconds in response time; so there really isn’t any need to get in a super huge hurry where you’re going around a corner on two wheels."

Smith concurred that it’s important that critical path be cleared but said a pedal to the metal, wide open kind of response was not necessary in a town as tightly packed with vehicle and pedestrian traffic as Wrightsville.

"We’ll be able to reduce our response times more efficiently by making sure firefighters have all of their gear staged properly to make sure they can get on the truck quickly and get out of the station quickly but the amount of time you’re going to save in a district as small as Wrightsville Beach just doesn’t amount to anything; and when you look at the density we have, it just doesn’t make sense."

The relocation of vegetation, $2,000, additional sidewalk estimated at $1,000 and marked pavement and signage $800 does not include a possible emergency signal, $4,000 currently being negotiated with the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

Project manager Dellies anticipates the installation of the telephone system and the completion of punch list items to wrap sometime next week. After that he expects to resume his duties as the town’s stormwater manager.