Leaders meet to discuss Cape Fear region traffic issues

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Local leaders from New Hanover, Brunswick and Pender Counties met today to discuss the Cape Fear Transportation 2040 plan and the TDM program, which includes the new ride-share program that started in Leland on Monday.

The Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization is made up of leaders across the region. Vice Chair Pat Batleman, who is also a Leland town council member, says educating folks about the new ride-share program is extremely important, especially for those who don’t want to change their ways of transportation.

“I think that we are very, very blessed that we are now working on two of the major problems that we’ve had getting back and forth over the Cape fear River — the causeway and completion of the I-140 leg over the river,” Batleman said.

Batleman added that due to the population growing at an unexpected rate, officials are now forced to play defense and find ways to remedy the problem while the construction projects continue. The best solution, she says, is that ride-share program. Most of the major road construction projects are set to be completed in 2016 and 2017, so Batleman says patience is the key.