Causeway Drive’s pedestrian signal, LED streetlight implementation, curbside recycling and the beach ambassadors program are among the items up for discussion during the Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen’s 2016 retreat Jan. 12.
HAWK light confusion
The High Intensity Activated Crosswalk (HAWK) signal, or pedestrian hybrid beacon, at the intersection of Causeway and North Channel drives was installed in February 2013, but Wrightsville Beach Town Manager Tim Owens said recently motorists have complained the light is confusing.
The light activates when a pedestrian pushes the button initiating a sequence featuring several intervals, from yellow to red to flashing red. Owens said the flashing red interval is what causes confusion because drivers don’t realize they are allowed to proceed.
“People don’t quite understand that they can still go through [the flashing red],” he said. “Folks just sit there at the red blinking light and everybody’s looking at each other, no one knows what to do. It’s unfortunate because it backs up traffic that much further.”
Owens said one option is changing the format of the light to imitate a regular traffic signal, but the N.C. Department of Transportation might not be in favor of that because the HAWK light format is “one that’s kind of uniform throughout the United States.”
A likelier fix would be to install signage explaining the flashing red signal, he said, because aside from that confusion he feels the signal has been a success.
“It helps school kids get across the roadway and it helps folks that are exercising or going to the beach,” Owens said.
More LED streetlights
The aldermen will discuss the pros and cons of allowing Duke Energy to continue installing LED streetlights throughout town.
Switching out all the lights to LEDs would save the town an estimated $10,000 annually. But when Duke Energy started switching out streetlights in the central business district in fall 2015, residents and sea turtle volunteers alike were concerned about the bright, white glare.
Wrightsville Beach Sea Turtle Project coordinator Nancy Fahey said several streetlights are visible from the beach strand and even regular bulbs have distracted sea turtle hatchlings from reaching the ocean at night. She hopes, if LEDs are installed in those streetlights, that the town can somehow shield or adjust the lights to lessen the glare.
Reconsidering curbside recycling
Currently, town residents voluntarily recycle at a central facility in Wrightsville Beach Park, but the aldermen will consider the costs and benefits of reinstating curbside recycling.
In July 2015, the town’s only approved curbside recycling service, Green Coast Recycling, went out of business, and since then residents have had to bring their recyclables to the centrally located bins.
Owens said if the town opts for curbside recycling, it might eliminate the need for the central facility, which is now collected by New Hanover County, but it would still cost more.
“It’s less inconvenient, but there’s still a charge that you get every month,” he said. “It’s not something we can absorb in normal sanitation rates.”
Bringing back beach ambassadors
In 2012, after Wrightsville Beach banned smoking from the beach strand, through TDA allocations, the town funded the beach ambassadors, a program that hired citizens to walk the most congested parts of the beach strand to educate people about the town’s littering and smoking rules. The current board has distributed that $3,000 elsewhere, but litter concerns raised last summer have prompted the aldermen to reconsider.
Volunteers who regularly walked the beach during summer 2015 noticed an increase in cigarette butts on the beach. Now, as a new fiscal year approaches, the aldermen will decide whether to reallocate funds back into the beach ambassadors.
The board will also discuss future beach renourishment funding, a revitalization plan for the town’s business districts, a long-range traffic, pedestrian and bike plan and youth sports programs. The meeting, which is open to the public, is in Town Hall Council Chambers.
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