New lanes on Alligator Creek Bridge open on causeway, Brunswick River Bridge work continues

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Drivers may notice a big difference on the Leland Causeway after a major part of the project opened today.

There are now a few extra lanes on part of US 17/74/76 going into Wilmington.

“Actually, the traffic wasn’t that bad this morning,” driver Dorothy Bennerman said.

Word about new lanes on the causeway traveled quickly, especially via social media.

“I’ve heard good things about it actually,” driver Jill Fleming said.

The Alligator Creek Bridge on 17/74/76 has officially gone from two lanes to four lanes. Fleming and Bennerman said they have been waiting for this kind of relief for a while.

“I get stuck in traffic every morning,” Bennerman said.

“I recall a time not that long ago when I literally left somewhere, and my drive home should have been 20 minutes, and it was probably three hours,” Fleming said.

Today, Bennerman said she immediately noticed a difference. Other drivers also posted to the Leland Traffic Reports Facebook page about the better commute.

“From what I’ve heard today, the people that work there, they say it was a great, great drive,” Fleming said.

The other bridge on the causeway still has a ways to go. According to the NCDOT website, crews are about 87 percent done. According to the schedule, it should be 97 percent done.

“It looks like they need to do a lot more work to that bridge,” Bennerman said.

Resident Engineer Jimmy Zepeda said the website has not been updated since June, but he said they still expect to finish on time by the middle of November.

“It’ll be nice to be able to drive into Wilmington and do all the things I’d like to do in Wilmington that I don’t have to dread doing,” Fleming said.

A DOT spokesman says the Alligator Creek Bridge was actually completed at the end of June, but crews were waiting to open that bridge until the structure over the Brunswick River was complete.