The NCDOT gives updates on two 211 bridge conditions after a severe storm caused major erosion

"Take a deep breath as you wait in traffic. Adjust your schedules."

BRUNSWICK COUNTY (WWAY) — Things are slowly getting back to normal in Brunswick County after a severe storm nearly a month ago, caused severe erosion of bridges and roads. The North Carolina Department of Transportation has been working to make repairs.
It’s a step closer to completion. Mid-Thursday morning, the Duke Canal Bridge in Southport reopened to traffic, leaving one more bridge to be fixed. However, there’s still a problem; traffic is still backed up and won’t clear out until both bridges are open.

“Until we see the second bridge open, we’ll continue to see backups,” says The City of Southport Police Chief Todd Coring.

Gary Lyndenmuth moved to Southport a few years ago. The traffic doesn’t bother him– after being a New York native.

“It has been a nightmare because people aren’t used to the traffic. They’re not used to rescheduling themselves. If you’re not working you don’t need to go out at six o’clock in the morning. You can wait. You’re retired,” Lyndenmuth says.

He just adjusted his schedule.

“I just get up early, or I go at seven or eight o’clock at night,” Lyndenmuth says.

He says he used to work on bridges while living up North. It wasn’t car overpasses but for trains.

“I don’t know what they’re doing out there. They stuck four pipes in the ground. They’re pouring concrete on top of it. That should have been done in a week,” Lyndenmuth exclaims.

Thursday night, The City of Southport had a city council meeting, and Southport Police and the NCDOT gave traffic updates.

“Take a deep breath as you wait in traffic. Adjust your schedules,” Coring says.

And police say they’re getting a lot of calls. The City Manager even had to step in.

“Please, let them do their job on the streets. Call me. I’m there for that reason,” says Stuart Turille, The City of Southport’s City Manager.

Then WWAY came across Joshua Pratt with the NCDOT.

Keelin: “The Canal Bridge was open prematurely because there isn’t any proper drainage system.”
Joshua: “The drainage in place on the South Side was washed out as part of the rain. The drainage ditches were installed on the new alignment for traffic, and to speed up the process, we do have some storm drains that we would be constructing in the future.”

However, he says the drainage shouldn’t cause any erosion concerns.

“It’s just we didn’t want that to hold up traffic on that new bridge,” Pratt says.

Despite that, everything seems to be on schedule. For the latest on road conditions in Brunswick County, the NCDOT has an interactive map showing closures and when roads will be repaired.