Plans

As required by the Federal Transit Authority (FTA), the Locally Coordinated Transportation Plan includes an assessment of available services by current public, private, and nonprofit transportation providers; an assessment of transportation needs for individuals with disabilities and seniors; strategies, activities, and/or projects to address the identified gaps between current and needed transportation services; identifies opportunities to achieve effectiveness in service delivery; and prioritizes implementation efforts based on available resources, feasibility, and time.

This plan, which serves as an update to the 2016 Pender County Collector Street Plan, aims to improve connectivity, inform land development, maintain acceptable levels-of-service on existing roadways, ensure conservation of natural areas, and provide a safe and high-quality transportation network for residents, businesses, and visitors using all modes of travel in southeastern Pender County. The 2021 update, necessitated by high growth rates since 2016 as well as changes in regional plans and projects such as the adoption of the WMPO’s 2045 Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP), the NCDOT 2020-2029 State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), a 2018 update to the County’s land use plan, and the progression of the US17/Hampstead Bypass, addresses future transportation needs while affording flexibility in implementation.

Cape Fear Change in Motion 2020 is the newest update to the Short-Range TDM Plan. The purpose of this plan is to recommend, support, and implement expansion of transportation options in the Wilmington Urban Area, and to essentially alter the perception of transportation from driving a personal vehicle to include the myriad of alternative transportation choices that are available in the region. The plan was adopted by the WMPO Board on April 28, 2021.

This document details the WMPO’s congestion management process (CMP). The document describes the network the WMPO reviews for congestion, how congestion data is collected, how congestion data is evaluated, and what strategies are used by the WMPO to address congestion. Strategies within this document are aimed at reducing congestion while enhancing safety and multimodal mobility throughout the region. The WMPO is required to continually conduct a CMP by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

The WMPO provides a Biennial Data Report every two years to demonstrate how the regional network is performing according to the performance metrics established in the CMP. The 2020 Biennial Data Report was adopted by the WMPO Board on January 27, 2021.

This plan is a metropolitan transportation plan (MTP), which is a document required by FHWA to guide regional transportation priorities and actions. Cape Fear Moving Forward 2045 will be used to program local projects in the metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) and the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). This plan has a 25-year horizon and is intended to present a fiscally-constrained evaluation of projects and strategies that promote mobility and access for people and goods within the WMPO boundary. Cape Fear Moving Forward 2045 was developed with extensive public input and includes an evaluation of potential aviation, bicycle and pedestrian, ferry and water transportation, freight and freight rail, public transportation, and roadway projects to meet the needs of the region.

The study considers alignment and height alternatives for the replacement of the existing 4-lane steel, center-span, vertical-lift bridge. The proposed bridge replacement would consist of a 6‐lane median‐divided facility with a barrier‐separated multi‐use path. The project is needed to accommodate local population increases and truck traffic for the Port of Wilmington. A new bridge will improve traffic flow, and provide bicycle/pedestrian connectivity across the river.

In January 2020, the Wilmington MPO and the Friends of the Wilmington Rail Trail kicked off the development of a multimodal master plan for the downtown rail corridor between 3rd Street and McRae Street. The effort was funded by the WMPO’s federal Direct Attributable program and a donation from the Arts Council of Wilmington and New Hanover County. The purpose of the plan is to address the feasibility for use of the corridor by bicycles, pedestrians, and future passenger rail service. The final plan offers potential alignment and points of access, as well as recommendations for the integration of public art into the corridor.

The development of the plan was guided by a steering committee comprised of WMPO, City of Wilmington, and NCDOT staff, as well as members of the Friends of the Wilmington Rail Trail, the Arts Council, and citizen advocates for the project. Stakeholder involvement and the understanding of existing conditions and constraints was incorporated into the plan’s development as well as public input attained through a public survey and 14-day public comment period on the draft plan. The final plan, which can be viewed at the link below, was adopted by the WMPO Board on November 18, 2020.

This Plan is intended to provide a framework for identifying pedestrian needs, both in terms of physical infrastructure and encouragement programs for the Town of Carolina Beach. The vision for this pedestrian master plan is to enhance the livability of Carolina Beach by creating an appealing, walkable environment for both residents and visitors.

In a joint effort with the City of Wilmington, CSX, and the Wilmington MPO, NCDOT has completed the Wilmington Traffic Separation Study (TSS), focusing on 26 existing at-grade roadway-railroad crossings along a 6-mile span of the CSXT rail line. NCDOT uses a TSS to systematically review crossing safety. Traffic Separation Studies comprehensively evaluate traffic patterns and road usage for an entire municipality or region, determining the need for improving and/or eliminating public grade crossings.

The City of Wilmington, the Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, and the NC Department of Transportation directed that a study be performed to investigate the feasibility of realigning the existing CSXT railroad line that traverses in a “V” shape through the City. Moving this line will provide a new location for rail access to the Port, and offer the potential of repurposing the existing CSXT railroad corridor for transit use.

This study evaluates alternative cross-sections for the US 17 Business (Market Street) corridor from Covil Avenue to 3rd Street in the City of Wilmington.

In 2016 a study was completed to re-evaluate affected intersections to guide the decision-making process toward action.

The Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP) is North Carolina’s multi-modal transportation plan. The CTP represents a community’s consensus on the future transportation system (including the existing system and improvements) needed to support anticipated growth and development over a 25-30 year timeframe. When a CTP is adopted by NCDOT, it represents the state’s concurrence with the identified transportation needs and proposed recommendations.

This is the first pedestrian plan for the Town of Leland. The plan will be used to identify and prioritize pedestrian and greenway projects in Leland. It will also help enhance the pedestrian environment by guiding community programs, getting projects into the state STIP, improving eligibility for other funding, and connecting a pedestrian network.

This plan examines and addresses comprehensive transportation issues in the Town of Wrightsville Beach to include traffic congestion, safety, pedestrian and bicycle circulation, and parking issues.

This plan aims to increase connectivity in northern Brunswick County through improving the collector street network for the Towns of Leland and Navassa.

This is an 11-mile on-and-off-road bicycle route that follows the Historic Beach Car Line.The bikeway is comprised of neighborhood residential streets, off-road multi-use paths and a few arterial roadways. It provides bicycle and pedestrian access to numerous recreational, cultural, and educational destinations in Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach.

This plan provides a framework for the establishment of a comprehensive network of greenways in the City of Wilmington and New Hanover County to enhance opportunities for multi-modal transportation and recreation to include plans for walking, bicycling, canoeing and kayaking.

This study was commissioned to identify near-term strategies to address safety and mobility deficiencies on US 17 and NC 210 in Hampstead. The plan provides recommendations that include access management strategies, design elements, traffic enforcement, and collector street recommendations.

In 2008, the Wilmington City Council adopted the Cross-City Trail alignment. Tentative plans for the Cross-City Trail arose from the passage of the Parks and Greenspace Bond, of which $1 million was allocated for a bike-hike greenway system, and expanded through private and public partnerships and through connections to existing or funded off-road trails. The trail is anticipated to be fully constructed by the end of 2016.

This preferred access plan illustrated preferred access management initiatives for the Eastwood Road corridor.

This corridor plan integrates transportation and land use planning in an effort to improve safety and mobility along the Market Street corridor from Colonial Drive to the Pender County line. The plan provides recommendations for access management, inter-connectivity, improved development standards, future collector streets and conceptual designs.

This plan creates a vision and framework for Carolina Beach to become a more bicycle and multi‐use path friendly environment that provides inter-connectivity to the various town destinations.

This study represents the latest stage in the development of the Wilmington Multi-Modal Transportation Center, including the site’s functional layout and specific land requirements.

This study evaluates alternative scenarios for Dow Road from its northern terminus at US 421 (Lake Park Boulevard) to K Avenue in Kure Beach and the feasibility and impacts of extending Dow Road from K Avenue south to Fort Fisher.

This study examines different alternatives for on-road and off-road bicycle facilities along the Pelican Drive and Salisbury Street corridor in the Town of Wrightsville Beach.

In 2007, the City of Wilmington received a grant from the North Carolina Department of Transportation to develop a comprehensive pedestrian plan. The final plan was adopted by Wilmington City Council on August 4, 2009. With this plan, the City of Wilmington and NCDOT hope to meet the demands for safer and more extensive pedestrian facilities, including greenways, sidewalks, and crosswalks. The comprehensive pedestrian plan will guide local, regional and state efforts to improve conditions for walking in the City of Wilmington and increase our reputation as one of the premier tourism and recreation destinations in the southeast.

This plan strives to preserve the historical integrity, reveal the natural character, convey the social diversity, celebrate the varied attractions, and enhance the many modes of transportation of Cape Fear Historic Byway, the first entirely urban scenic byway in the state of North Carolina.

The Comprehensive Bicycle Plan for Leland was adopted in 2008. This Plan provides the Town with a planning tool, which will assist in the expansion, promotion, and funding of safe and efficient bicycle facilities and programs and initiatives  throughout Leland.

This plan was developed to identify the future transportation improvements required for the fast-growing area of southern New Hanover County bounded by Independence Boulevard, Carolina Beach Road, Sanders Road and the Cape Fear River.

This plan evaluates measures to improve safety in the short-term for the Dawson Street and Wooster Street study area in the City of Wilmington, particularly South 6th Street at Wooster Street, and identifies opportunities and constraints in an effort to define a long-range future vision for the roadway couplet.

The purpose of this plan is to inventory the existing collector street network and develop standards and policies that will promote future connectivity and accommodations for automobiles, transit, pedestrians, and bicycles as collector streets are constructed within the area bounded by US Highway 17, NC 133 and Town Creek in Brunswick County.

This study examines potential sites for a multi-modal transportation center in the Wilmington region. This center would potantially support intracity buses, intercity buses, passenger rail, taxi services and other transportation modes.

This study identifies the need for a multi-modal transportation center in the Wilmington Urban Area. The study further identifies the best area for the facility and assesses the feasibility of construction.