City offers Azalea Festival parking, traffic reminders

The City of Wilmington sent out this news release Thursday morning with reminders and tips about parking and traffic downtown this weekend during the Azalea Festival:

North Front Street will be open for pedestrians in time for the Azalea Festival this weekend.

* This major project milestone is being reached on time.
* The Market Street intersection is already open to vehicles in three directions.
* Lighting, traffic signals, trash containers, benches, landscaping, parking paystations and other amenities are being added over the next couple of weeks.

Parking
The city’s downtown on-street parking will be free starting at 5 p.m. on Friday and all day Saturday for Azalea Festival activities. Parking enforcement for metered and time-limited spaces will be suspended in the Central Business District, which extends from Ann to Red Cross streets and from Water to Fourth streets. On-street parking is always free on Sundays. Parking in the city’s Second Street and Market Street decks will charge a $5 entry fee on Saturday and Sunday. Check the city’s website at wilmingtonnc.gov for details.

Street closures
Several downtown streets will be closed during Azalea Festival for both the street fair and the parade. Most of the closures for the street fair will last all weekend, but the closures for the parade are only for Saturday morning. A listing of all street closures can be found on the city’s website at wilmingtonnc.gov.