OPERATION GRIDLOCK: Greenfield Lake culvert replacement to close S. 3rd Street for rest of 2017

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Drivers beware!

Work on a busy section of road in Wilmington that’s been discussed for years will finally start next week.

The NC Department of Transportation will close S. 3rd Street between Willard Street and Carolina Beach Road beginning at 9 p.m. Monday. The section of road will remain closed through Dec. 31.

The closure will allow crews to replace a 70-year-old concrete culvert with a new, larger culvert that will better drain excess water from Greenfield Lake.

Back in 2013, the DOT held a public hearing about work to replace a pipe at Greenfield Lake that would shutdown the area known as “The Crossover” for six to nine months. At the time, residents and commuters were worried about the impact such a long closure would have on traffic.

The DOT announced this closure back in January. The agency said then the existing culvert was damaged in Hurricane Fran back in 1996 resulting in placing steel plates over the top. The DOT also said in January it has offered the contractor an incentive of $200,000 if they can have the road reopened by November 5.

The DOT says a signed detour will guide southbound motorists to Dawson Street, 16th Street, Shipyard Boulevard and Carolina Beach Road. Drivers heading northbound on 3rd Street will take Carolina Beach Road to Shipyard Boulevard and 17th Street to Wooster Street.

Traffic will also be restricted to “Trucks Only” on Front Street between Willard Street and Carolina Beach Road, weekdays between 7 and 10 a.m. for southbound traffic, and between 3 and 6 p.m. for northbound traffic.

“These peak hour restrictions will accommodate the recent increase in commercial truck traffic going to and from the Port of Wilmington,”  Wilmington Resident Engineer Daniel Waugh said in a news release.