Downtown bridge closure causing mixed feelings

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The DOT is preparing to close the bridge on 3rd Street in Downtown Wilmington for a year. The work and detour has business owners and locals talking.

“People are going to be annoyed,” Paul Hopkins said. “Nobody is going to be happy.”

Hopkins is not the only one who feels that way about the 3rd Street bridge closing downtown.

“I feel like the trip might not be worth it like you could go somewhere else and spend less time in traffic,” Christian Smith said.

If you’re coming to Downtown Wilmington from Martin Luther King Junior Parkway, the DOT will detour you by taking the Isabel Holmes Bridge to Highway 421 South then back over the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge. The detour starts Monday, April 13.

Juan Pacini opened Folks on Fourth Cafe just a few months ago is OK with the work, because that means there will be more traffic for folks using their own detours.

“It will be good visibility for any business in the area,” Pacini said. “Of course there will be some problem with the traffic. Of course there will be people who don’t respect the speed and go fast, but I believe there are ways to correct that.”

He says it’s a win-win situation for businesses on 4th Street.

“People in the morning with their windows down will pass by here and smell my coffee,” Pacini said. “They will stop and come in and buy my coffee. Before, that guy would never pass by here.”

All in all — mixed feelings about the year-long project.

“Depending on how bad it gets it might be a deterrent who would normally come down here and then decide to go somewhere else,” Hopkins said.

The DOT hopes to have the bridge construction completed by April 1, 2016.