Turn lane helps troublesome Wilmington intersection

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Heads up about a traffic change on Market Street. It will now be easier to leave Target and Party City on New Centre Drive.

The city has created a right-hand turn lane to help cut down on congestion. The lane where drivers used to be able to turn left or go straight is now just for drivers to turn left.

“This was one we got a lot of funding for,” city traffic engineer Don Bennett said. “It was a small project with a very small project, so it allowed us to use the funding we already had to make a fairly large impact for the intersection, which you can see, with a very small project.”

The $150,000 project took about four months to complete. That’s a bit longer than expected, because workers ran into sewer lines and had to work around a big transmission telephone pole.

The city is using its new traffic signal system at that intersection to better time the traffic lights.