The Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen agreed to move forward using a Surface Transportation Project-Direct Attributable (STP-DA) grant to improve the crosswalks at Waynick Boulevard and Causeway Drive and create a sidewalk on Coral Drive.
The $292,000 grant was originally intended to create a dual left turn at the intersection, but the new alignment was not recommended by the NCDOT due to concerns about large trucks conflicting the vehicles in the inner lane.
Without that particular project on the table, the town was faced with two options: transfer the funds to other projects or pursue an application for the new round of STP-DA grant funds in 2015.
Board members agreed to use part of the current grant to create a sidewalk on the east side of Coral Drive.
Wrightsville Beach Mayor Bill Blair asked that aldermen make this project a priority; he suggested holding a public hearing to allow residents in that area to voice opinions.
“It seems to me, from the folks that I’ve talked to, that Coral Drive pedestrian improvements seem to be a pretty important thing.” Blair said. “We’ve talked about it for a number of years and haven’t done it.”
Mayor Pro Tem Darryl Mills added, “There are so many people going up and down Coral going to school. It’s a safety thing. There may be some pushback from people seeing their front yards decreasing.”
Additionally, the grant would be used to improve crosswalks at the intersection of Causeway Drive and Waynick Boulevard, which board members described as unsafe for pedestrians.
“We’ve got an approved grant on the table for $292,000,” said Alderwoman Lisa Weeks, “$127,00 of that is going toward Coral Drive, so that’s $165,000 that I would hope would cover those two crosswalk areas. It’s a very dangerous situation for pedestrians.”
Weeks mentioned using crosswalks located on Third Street in downtown Wilmington as a reference for how to proceed.
“They’ve done a phenomenal job,” she said. “It’s safety first, with the crosswalks, but it’s very appealing to the eye and I think we can do something like that.”
Mayor Blair asked town manager Tim Owens to meet with the Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization to receive further direction for the project.
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