US Highway 17 is a Major Highway in Wilmington North Carolina. The Counties of New Hanover, Brunswich, Pender, and Onslow have grown tremendously around it. Building bypass highways are of great importance to the growth of our communites.

Input on U.S. 17 bypass being sought at hearing

By Patrick Gannon
Staff Writer

In August 1992, the Federal Register included a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement to build a highway to provide for the "existing and projected traffic demand" in New Hanover and Brunswick counties.

In March 1996, the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners urged the N.C. Department of Transportation not to widen the existing U.S. 17 and instead consider alternatives, namely a bypass.

Nearly 12 years later, environmental documents are now complete, but the Brunswick leg of the U.S. 17 Wilmington Bypass remains at least several years removed from carrying cars and trucks. By the time it's built, the road will have been at least 20 years in the making.

It creeps a little closer next week, with a public hearing on its proposed design and path. An open house will be held from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday at North Brunswick High School, 114 Scorpion Drive, Leland. A formal presentation about the project will begin at 7 p.m. Residents are invited to attend to review project plans and speak to DOT officials about the chosen design and path.

"I think this would be the last public hearing" for the bypass, said Joe Blair, DOT division construction engineer.

The Brunswick leg of the bypass, also called Interstate 140, will connect U.S. 17 south of Leland in Brunswick County to U.S. 421 in New Hanover County. As proposed, the four-lane freeway will include five interchanges over its 14.2 miles - at U.S. 421, Cedar Hill Road, Mount Misery Road, U.S. 74/76 and U.S. 17 - as well as a high-rise bridge over the Cape Fear River.

The Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization's Transportation Advisory Committee, which sets regional transportation priorities, ranks the $300 million bypass No. 1 on its list of unmet transportation priorities in the Cape Fear region.

It even tops the proposed Cape Fear Skyway, a $1 billion bridge over the Cape Fear River from U.S. 17 in Brunswick County to the intersection of Carolina Beach Road and Independence Boulevard in Wilmington.

"Next to the Cape Fear Skyway, it would be the most expensive project proposed in the region at this time," Blair said of the bypass.

Lanny Wilson, committee chairman, said the bypass will extend the interstate system into Brunswick County, providing better access for county residents to Interstate 40, Raleigh and beyond. With environmental documents complete and the route chosen, the DOT will soon begin purchasing land, he said.

The four-lane, divided highway is expected to relieve traffic congestion in urban areas of Wilmington and Brunswick County, as well as the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge and the causeway of U.S. 17/74/76, which is arguably the worst bottleneck in the region. The new road also is intended to support economic growth, improve military transportation routes and improve hurricane evacuation, according to the N.C. Department of Transportation. Preliminary projections indicate the new segment of the bypass could carry 25,000 cars a day by 2025, Blair said.

But its $300-million-plus price tag isn't its only down side.

To make room for the road, 21 houses and seven businesses must be relocated by the DOT, according to the current proposal. Documents indicate that at least several homeowners in the road's path are perturbed by the chosen alternative, one of several considered over the years.

According to planning documents, the route was chosen based on an analysis of environmental and public interest factors, including wetlands, fish and wildlife habitats, flood hazards, water quality, endangered species, and residential and business relocations, among others.

Construction will also affect about 79 acres of wetlands. Per mile, that's more than double the average impact on wetlands for new projects in Eastern North Carolina, according to comments by the Environmental Protection Agency in planning documents. But residential relocations and stream impacts were less than average in the bypass plan, EPA officials noted.

EPA officials also have cautioned planners about the potential effects of noise on existing communities. It has also urged the DOT to use all available methods to decrease the risk from invasive, exotic plant species in sensitive environmental areas around the project. Fill dirt used in construction projects can introduce plant species that can severely impact wildlife habitats and largely untouched ecosystems.

The project includes three wildlife crossings - two bridges and a box culvert - so migrating animals, such as deer, bobcats, black bear, small mammals, reptiles and amphibians, can get to the other side.

Patrick Gannon: 343-2328

patrick.gannon@starnewsonline.com

Want to Know More?
Copies of the Final Environmental Impact Statement, Record of Decision and project maps are available at the Wilmington Planning Department, third floor, 305 Chestnut St., Wilmington; Leland Town Hall, 102 Town Hall Drive, Leland; and the DOT Division 3 Office, 124 Division Drive, Wilmington. The maps may also be viewed online at www.wmpo.org

For more information, contact Ed Lewis at (919) 715-1593 or e-mail elewis@dot.state.nc.us. Residents may also write, referencing Transportation Improvement Program project number R-2633A/B, to: Ed Lewis, NCDOT Project Development and Environmental Analysis Branch/Human Environment Unit, 1583 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1583.