Could 2019 see a route for the new Cape Fear crossing?
WILMINGTON, NC (StarNews) — The upcoming year should see transportation officials select the preferred route for a new crossing of the Cape Fear River.
Mike Kozlosky, executive director of the Wilmington Urban Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), said a schedule of events for 2019 has public hearings on the proposed new crossing scheduled for the spring with a “selection of the preferred alternative” scheduled for the summer.
A new crossing south of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge would be the fourth between New Hanover and Brunswick counties — the other two are the Isabel Holmes bridge and the Interstate 140 bypass. Last year, MPO board members narrowed its preferred alternatives to include three potential crossings of the river, all of them south of the current Memorial Bridge. There are still six routes under consideration for where the new bridge access highway would go once it crosses the river.
Officials estimate the next connection between Brunswick and New Hanover counties — including access highways and property acquisition — will cost $1 billion or more to build the bridge, which would have to be 215 feet above the river to accommodate ship traffic heading to the Port of Wilmington.
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