Traffic woes continue

The irritation lingers Thursday among drivers who had to cross the bridge to Brunswick County.

If you were in it, you know what a big mess it was. Bumper to bumper from downtown Wilmington, nearly all the way to Leland.

It made a normal commute of several minutes into an ordeal of hours.

“It took me two hours to get home and it usually takes me 45 minutes,” said Meredith Tedder, a local.

Rachel Carter said, “It was standstill for quite a long time, all the way up here on Front Street.”

Tuesday, an eighteen wheeler carrying lumber flipped over at a critical junction, just where Highway 421 merges with Highway 74 in Brunswick County, across from the battleship. The mess was moved to the shoulder of the road.

But Wednesday night, there was still remaining debris.

By not closing the lane down, drivers had to stay alert to avoid all the debris. Highway Patrol called the DOT along with County Line Wrecker Service to help clear the road. Highway Patrol asked them only to do what they could before rush hour, so come early Wednesday afternoon, there was still debris in the road.

The wrecker service was called again to get a crew together, but by the time the crew got on scene, cars were piling up heading home from work.

Local agencies will meet next week to discuss how to better handle a situation like this in the future.