Traffic shift planned for US 421 near New Hanover-Pender line

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The North Carolina Department of Transportation plans to shift U.S. 421 traffic onto a new bridge this week. The location is at the New Hanover/Pender county line, where the highway was destroyed by Hurricane Florence.

Northbound traffic will be shifted into the outside northbound lane on the new bridge over Fishing Creek at 5 p.m. on Friday. At the time of the shift, the outside lane will be open on both bridges.

The traffic shift will allow the contractor to remove the detour in the median on the north side of the project.

Another traffic shift is expected before the project is complete.

After Florence, NCDOT engineers opted to replace a culvert under U.S. 421 with two two-lane bridges to allow more water to flow beneath the road, making it more resilient during future storms.

Drivers are urged to stay alert and slow down while driving within the work zone.

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story said the traffic shift would happen on Wednesday. The NCDOT has provided an update that the opening was pushed back two days.