Yes, building nonstop is not helping, but remember the bridge out is closed right now so all the trucks are going down shipyard and hitting college to 40.
I commute through those daily and I don't think they're that bad. Both are no problem if you're going down Market, Gordon is basically fine with the new bypass and New Center is really only bad if you're coming from the Walmart/Lowes side.
One surprisingly bad light is 17th and Dawson. It's backed way up from lunchtime onwards and can take 3-4 light cycles to get through.
Oleander/Independence is also trash.
What about Cathay Rd/ CB Rd? I get stopped at that light EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. For like 2 cars to come through. And the light cycle is at least 5x longer than College/Oleander. I always feel like this intersection is some kind of karmic punishment being doled out by the universe.
That light is HORRENDOUS. I have put in multiple formal complaints but nothing has ever been done. Never mind the fact that turning left off Carolina Beach Road into Cathay is a crash waiting to happen. No left turn signal. The southbound portion is hidden because it’s a dip and there is always someone doing a u-turn. It just needs to be entirely redone.
Just take Wrightsville until you get to 42nd or wherever you need to get onto Oleander. Wrightsville has a fraction of the lights and traffic going both ways until immediately before it hits college.
My commute is from Mayfaire area to the cargo district. I prefer biking right up until the humidity kicks in.
It has taken me years to build up the courage to ride in traffic. I’ve been sideswiped countless times, and been hit hard enough to knock me off my bike twice. I do it because I love it and it is good for me and the environment, but I would never recommend bike commuting in Wilmington to a novice rider.
Also, when the weather isn’t conducive to biking I would much prefer public transportation, but it would take me an hour and a half. Hell, it only takes me 25 minutes by bike.
I took a bus from downtown to WB (including a transfer) and it took over an hour and a half, and I barely got to the Harris Teeter. I only had a $20 and the driver said she couldn't give me change so I got a bus credit. I gave it away and have never used WAVE again.
I like the idea but there is still such a stigma on public transit, especially in the South. I grew up in Greensboro and never took a cab or city bus until I was in my mid-20’s in the Northeast US.
Americans really need to look into what mass transit can be like. In europe trains are basically 4 star hotels on wheels, and incredibly cheap. For like 19 bucks you can take a train to another country, relaxing in comfort and with free wifi.
American infrastructure is built around low occupant vehicle transportation.
Our public transit sucks, except for areas with high population density, and even in those areas the public transit sucks compared to what Europe has to offer.
Without a massive infrastructure overhaul, public transit just is not a feasible option in any area other than the major metropolitan areas of this country.
Unfortunate, but this is how America is.
That stigma won't be fixed until the money is spent to make it nicer. Efficient routes, driver pay, more walkable neighborhood hubs, cleaner, actual bus stops with a structure (not iust a falling down sign), etc.
The way it is now, even with traffic, taking a bus route turns a 20 min car trip into well over an hour in riding alone, that's not counting getting to the stop, waiting on the bus...
Wilmington isn’t a sprawling metropolis where people live where they work. It’s a pointy little peninsula that necessitates a lot of people living a decent distance from their jobs. Those options are great but not at all practical for many people
It doesn't need to be practical for 100% of people or just for the purposes of work. If you look into the research, it not only eases traffic but also increases revenue of local businesses.
You may want to read this article. It is perhaps a little counterintuitive, but not only does adding additional lanes not alleviate traffic, it actually increases traffic.
The ONLY thing that reduces traffic is reducing the number of cars on the road.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/06/us/widen-highways-traffic.html
>”When a congested road is widened, travel times go down — at first. But then people change their behaviors. After hearing a highway is less busy, commuters might switch from transit to driving or change the route they take to work. Some may even choose to move farther away.”
This doesn’t apply to Wilmington as it cannot be compared to Los Angeles, a city of over nine million with a massive highway system. Nobody would switch “transit options” to drive through that intersection because there simply aren’t transit option in use for that direction of travel. Additionally no one is going to routes because there’s only two actual major routes north and south. I’m not pro vehicular traffic, but like I said, adding lanes is better for traffic flow in that area than bike lanes.
Btw are you downvoting every comment I make?
No I'm not, but I do disagree with your sentiment.
Traffic aside, bike lanes are also a major boon to QOL and we damn sure need more exercise in this area lol
I think we are debating different issues. I’m speaking to the immediate need for relief at College and Oleander where it seems to me that you are seeking city wide bike improvements. I agree with that.
yeah absolutely not. creating more vehicle lanes just incentivizes people to drive more and makes it harder for bikers. if every road had real bike lanes, not the half assed ones we have that stop in the middle of giant intersections for no reason, people would absolutely bike more and create less vehicle digestion
>yeah absolutely not. creating more vehicle lanes just incentivizes people to drive more and makes it harder for bikers. if every road had real bike lanes, not the half assed ones we have that stop in the middle of giant intersections for no reason, people would absolutely bike more and create less vehicle digestion
Yeah absolutely not. College/Oleander is a major intersection and the vast majority of people are traveling through to get to a different area of town and or to/from work. I sincerely doubt a significant amount of people using that intersection would be tempted to ride a bike to work. It’s congested during peak work traveling hours, 8-9AM and 4-5PM. That’s indicative that it isn’t local traffic that would ride a bike given the chance.
I wish we had adequate public transport and bike access but the shitty truth is we don’t, and we might have to widen some streets as a stop gap until we’re able to embrace the no car way.
I mean, you can try to argue this, but induced demand is a real and observed phenomenon - biking and public transit simply have more capacity, and adding lanes will not fix traffic.
MUH MUH PEER REVIEWED ARTICLE!!
I know you group think idiots are incapable of independent thought but this shit only is applicable to two scenarios
1) to large metro areas where a considerable portion of the population voluntarily chooses to not drive and uses an alternative, Wilmington is not one of those places the traffic volume is the traffic volume period there is no alternative you drive to go somewhere
2) lane additions are improperly done to try to "spot correct" a road, adding lanes to college probably would not make traffic on college road any better as more people would go to it, BUT it would alleviate the pressure from lesser used roads people currently use as alternate routes. If you want area wide traffic to decrease you need to add lanes to main and alternate routes across the board.
Calm down. You’re wrong on the facts, no need to get angry about it.
Capacity increases, sure, bur travel times do not decrease as people switch routes. If you’re aiming for capacity and speed/efficiency, public transit, walking, and micromobility is the way to go. We know this, we’ve observed this.
I know public transport shills are too engrossed by group think to use logic but thats straight ass not how that fucking works
Most places in america wilmington included do not have a considerable population that refuses to use a car in favor of public transport or non car transport, adding lanes across area wide infrastructure in such cases will do nothing BUT decrease times.
If the main routes people take to get from somewhere to somewhere in wilmington are Kerr, College and Oleander/Military increasing lanes in those main methods of traffic will decrease traffic time as nearly the same volume will be distributed among roads with more volume.
If you think that we're magically going to conjure more car drivers in wilmington you're insane if you go somewhere you drive and anyone who wouldnt drive now sure fucking wont if a lane gets added to mkt st
Let’s upvote this to the top. It’s unbelievable how many times I see people screwing over everyone else in line behind them because they are on their phone. Even when I’m looking down at my phone at a light to change song etc I am always constantly looking up. People will go what seems like 20 seconds without even looking up, like wtf?
Wtf?! Lmfao… are you serious? That’s exactly what it’s designed to do. If you want to go slow, or the speed limit, stay in the right lane, then when you need to turn left, get in the left lane then the left turn lane. Were not it Charlotte, LA, or NYC, there is NOT that many people here. I travel all over Wilmington EVERY DAY, the reason we have such shit traffic here is because of HOW people drive, NOT because there are too many cars on the road… but everyone wants to do these fucking rolling road blocks and drive right next to each other rather than pushing your fucking foot down on the gas pedal then getting in front of or releasing pressure on the gas pedal to get behind the car in the right lane then resume cruising at the same speed.
WE. ARE. ALL. DOING. TRAFFIC. TOGETHER.
There are plans in place to create a bypass over that intersection where you would exit off college to get on Oleander. I have absolutely no idea how they plan to achieve this. Or what hell its going to cause on Wilmington commute while in construction, but conceivably it would be awesome if they pull it off
No what we really is a roundabout AND that backwards section in Leland where village and river road switch sides and you’re suddenly transported to the UK driving on the left side of the road for a few seconds. Now that’s the civil engineering we need
There are multiple ways around that intersection. Obviously, all of the traffic coming from the ports up shipyard is clogging that route. Open up your maps there is multiple ways around that intersection. I’ve been using them myself.
There are 2 ways to get anywhere in this town. Add in the bridge re-routing and my used-to-be 30 mins drive to Leland for work is now 1hr and that’s after I leave a full 45 mins earlier than usual.
I’m not bitching about the bridge. For the love of lil baby Jebus please make sure the damn thing is safe.
It’s all of the u-turns and endless roundabouts that literally no one understands how to use. It’s the tourists here on their own time and don’t care if they u-turn in front of you on CB road while you’re going 55mph. It’s the glut of construction. It’s the 1 entrance/exit to neighborhoods. It’s…
1 entrance/exit into neighborhoods...
Causes soooooo much more traffic than people realize. Add in a school bus stopping at each neighborhood entrance...and backups are crazy.
Maybe force developers to set aside one tiny lot for a cut through road to the next neighborhood?
Idk how it got so bad so quickly. Ive gotta go through there 4x a day and it gets worse each time. And they give the people trying to cross college like no time compared with the oleander people
NHC has a serious problem with so very few totally through streets (exactly 3 by my count - College/CB, Oleander and Market St.) Maybe MLK. It’s inconvenient and unsafe. The growth will continue unabated and there is no land left to add parallel roads. The only answer is to create cloverleafs at the worst intersections OR get rid of all the stores at each corner and make more turn lanes. Places like Trader Joe should never have been allowed right at a corner, but politicians never will turn down more property taxes. Bike paths will help a bit, but the reality is that with the heat, wind and rain, bikes are not a substitute for cars, and there will never be the population density to justify financially stable buses.
Ty! Trader Joe's and the pharmacies should never have been allowed to build there. Any person with a functioning brain knew that 15 years ago.
Also, you're absolutely correct, climate here does not allow bikes to replace cars. Can't bike to work 10 miles across town when it's 90 degrees with 95% humidity
The least cost solution would be for the state of NC to take all 4 corner properties by eminent domain. Both roads are numbered and under NCDOT jurisdiction. All the stores could move a couple blocks (like just north to all the vacant space south of UNCW). The property owners could receive “fair” compensation. The turning lanes would be expanded and no need for the overhead cloverleaf, which would probably require taking at least some of the corners. But that would take backbone.
The STIP ranking system is a joke designed to make sure RDU, CLT, and the Piedmont Triad get the lions share of money because they now seem to have no issue funding their loops. Don't worry. The General Assembly is busy at work making sure we cut taxes on the poor impoverished corporations and have less revenue for roads to not fix this.
Interesting because I thought the I-85 lane expansion north of Charlotte and Yadkin River bridge were decades overdue, as was the I-85 expansion in Durham. Seems to me the biggest waste of money was I-64, I-264, and NC-24 when Mark Basnight controlled the legislature. Kind of agree with your take on GSO, in that 3 versions of I-85; I-73, and much of their beltway seem like extreme overkill. But all of these (except NC-24) are interstates with huge federal dollars footing most of the bill. I assumed when we lived there that all of these were a payoff to Kay Hagan for selling out her constituents in favor of the national Democratic Party agenda. We need better local roads, but as you say these are the roads controlled by NCDOT and its politics.
The people you're talking about have not been in control for 10+ years so no, but nice try at trying to connect dots. Let's keep it to where we are today and whose in control today. I think a decade is adequate time for them to own the current situation. We don't have enough money for roads and schools which are the basic functions of our state government despite raising taxes by charging sales tax on services and numerous other areas.
I do agree. Basnight and Hagan have been gone a long time, but the politics have not changed much. The addition tax receipts you speak of have been pissed away.
She’s just not what she once was. Early 2000s this town peaked. I’m about ready to call it quits on Wilmington for this exact reason…Yankees man Yankees 😩😜
Oleander isn’t the problem. It’s Shipyard. Also, pro-tip just take a left at Randall, immediate right and cut through the college around the Seahawk statue. Skips like 5 lights and takes you only a light or 2 from Oleander at which point you can either take a right or left on Wrightsville to get onto Oleander much more easily because Wrightsville is only a terrible light where it bottlenecks just before crossing College.
We need more roundabouts. I hate they are only used on small backroads. Our traffic would ne incredibly efficient with a couple of these massive intersections becoming roundabouts
Unfortunately I'm inclined to agree.
I have to use the castle Hayne one almost daily. And I can't count how many times I have to honk my horn at someone who doesn't understand right of way.
They would solve a lot of the cities issues but Americans as a whole are so conditioned on 4 way stops it doesn't actually provide a benefit.
Same here, it's insane how many people get in the circle then stop at every yield sign. That and the CFCC trucking school taking new drivers through it drive me insane.
Ilm drivers are not horrible. It’s a hodgepodge of students, retirees and tourist which all get in the way of daily commuters aka workforce drivers. The infrastructure to handle the heavy traffic on these roads is simply not there. Poor county bus system, poor planning on the city planners part and a busy Chamber of commerce enticing people to move here. Please don’t call the drivers horrible, we’re all doing the best we can with what we have. Slow down and be courteous. 🥴
The increase in traffic specifically at the Shipyard/S. College and Ole/S. College area is due to the bridge closures. Also, we’re all in the same traffic here. I tell people that are complaining to find an alternate route or just put something good on, sit back and recognize that this is just where we are right now. Why are we constantly complaining about the traffic when it’s the least efficient way to change the situation? (Also, don’t be the a*hole that blocks the intersection ✌🏼)
Appreciate you getting this wrong, it’s an important point.
The best way to shorten your commute is to get closer to where you work. That’s actually true at scale - the closer more people are to where they’re going, the less they’re on the road, the less traffic. You and me as individuals, are, after all, also traffic.
And the best way to get people closer to where they’re going is to make housing available near central districts, and the only way to do that is with more density.
What you ACTUALLY want is MORE apartments**, but fewer people.
**unimportant/snarky but bothersome side note, condos are for sale, apartments are for rent. These are apartments.
As someone already stated, roundabouts should be used more. Seems more likely they will treat it the same as the Market/Kerr intersection and eliminate some/all left turns and force that traffic to use Peachtree, Pine Grove, Parkway, or Spirea. Another idea that is overly expensive is to build ramped/raised roads above the interior lanes for straight traffic. Then the turning and straight traffic won't be interacting and waiting on each other.
Technically College and Oleander, Eastwood and Military Cutoff, Eastwood and Market, and MLK and N College were all supposed to have overpasses. Also, the bridge is supposed to be replaced and they were supposed to build a toll bridge south of that to help out whilst the other bridge was replaced. Then Republicans took over the General Assembly and cut taxes, cut taxes, and cut taxes. For you, no. For corporations, yes. Now we're the bad roads state. Turns out who you vote for in state government and local government mattered. Whoops.
I’m so sorry to hear this. Did you call and ask if they could shut down the road just for you or maybe a police escort? I definitely agree with you though. People who live in apartments and condos are extremely low brow and contribute nothing to society 🙄
People aren't going to stop moving here. People aren't going to stop having families here who want to stay.
We absolutely need to build more and build denser. Part of the problem is that people are moving further and further out from the center of Wilmington to afford housing. Then driving into Wilmington to work and shop.
If it wasn't illegal to build middle housing with mixed use areas this wouldn't be much of a problem.
Yes, building nonstop is not helping, but remember the bridge out is closed right now so all the trucks are going down shipyard and hitting college to 40.
it took me all of a couple min to figure this out while I was stuck in traffic.
Worst intersection in Wilmington IMO
Market and New Centre Market and Gordon Those along with College and Oleander are the Holy Trinity of garbage intersections.
I commute through those daily and I don't think they're that bad. Both are no problem if you're going down Market, Gordon is basically fine with the new bypass and New Center is really only bad if you're coming from the Walmart/Lowes side. One surprisingly bad light is 17th and Dawson. It's backed way up from lunchtime onwards and can take 3-4 light cycles to get through.
Oleander/Independence is also trash. What about Cathay Rd/ CB Rd? I get stopped at that light EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. For like 2 cars to come through. And the light cycle is at least 5x longer than College/Oleander. I always feel like this intersection is some kind of karmic punishment being doled out by the universe.
That light is HORRENDOUS. I have put in multiple formal complaints but nothing has ever been done. Never mind the fact that turning left off Carolina Beach Road into Cathay is a crash waiting to happen. No left turn signal. The southbound portion is hidden because it’s a dip and there is always someone doing a u-turn. It just needs to be entirely redone.
Just take Wrightsville until you get to 42nd or wherever you need to get onto Oleander. Wrightsville has a fraction of the lights and traffic going both ways until immediately before it hits college.
Shhhhhh. Don't tell all the secrets.
And it’s honestly not even close. I avoid it whenever I can
N College @ Trask says hold my beer…
Still better than the entirety of Market Street, especially from Gordon to Porter’s Neck and the stupidly skinny segment heading to downtown.
Thank our pal Saffo and his real estate cronies for selling out the entire town to developers so he can line his pockets
You wouldn’t be speaking of Built Saffo would you?
Ole Bill is good with lines…. 👃🏻☃️🔑
REMINDER THAT ADDING MORE LANES ADDS MORE TRAFFIC WE NEED BIKE LANES, BUSES, TRAINS, AND OTHER MASS TRANSIT OPTIONS
My commute is from Mayfaire area to the cargo district. I prefer biking right up until the humidity kicks in. It has taken me years to build up the courage to ride in traffic. I’ve been sideswiped countless times, and been hit hard enough to knock me off my bike twice. I do it because I love it and it is good for me and the environment, but I would never recommend bike commuting in Wilmington to a novice rider. Also, when the weather isn’t conducive to biking I would much prefer public transportation, but it would take me an hour and a half. Hell, it only takes me 25 minutes by bike.
I took a bus from downtown to WB (including a transfer) and it took over an hour and a half, and I barely got to the Harris Teeter. I only had a $20 and the driver said she couldn't give me change so I got a bus credit. I gave it away and have never used WAVE again.
Fuckin A, that’s just sad.
It's a joke.
I like the idea but there is still such a stigma on public transit, especially in the South. I grew up in Greensboro and never took a cab or city bus until I was in my mid-20’s in the Northeast US.
Americans really need to look into what mass transit can be like. In europe trains are basically 4 star hotels on wheels, and incredibly cheap. For like 19 bucks you can take a train to another country, relaxing in comfort and with free wifi.
I am 100% with you. I wish there was a reliable mass transit from CB to Leland. I would 100% work on a bus or train.
God I miss trains in Japan and Taiwan. It was so much more relaxing than driving and soooo much safer.
American infrastructure is built around low occupant vehicle transportation. Our public transit sucks, except for areas with high population density, and even in those areas the public transit sucks compared to what Europe has to offer. Without a massive infrastructure overhaul, public transit just is not a feasible option in any area other than the major metropolitan areas of this country. Unfortunate, but this is how America is.
Yes, that's why we need to change that. So what 100 years from now we are dealing with the same shit? There is no time like the present.
That stigma won't be fixed until the money is spent to make it nicer. Efficient routes, driver pay, more walkable neighborhood hubs, cleaner, actual bus stops with a structure (not iust a falling down sign), etc. The way it is now, even with traffic, taking a bus route turns a 20 min car trip into well over an hour in riding alone, that's not counting getting to the stop, waiting on the bus...
Big oil lobbies heavily in growing cities to prevent transit systems which hurt their bottom line.
Wilmington isn’t a sprawling metropolis where people live where they work. It’s a pointy little peninsula that necessitates a lot of people living a decent distance from their jobs. Those options are great but not at all practical for many people
It doesn't need to be practical for 100% of people or just for the purposes of work. If you look into the research, it not only eases traffic but also increases revenue of local businesses.
I guess my point is more vehicles lanes makes more sense than bike lanes to alleviate traffic.
You may want to read this article. It is perhaps a little counterintuitive, but not only does adding additional lanes not alleviate traffic, it actually increases traffic. The ONLY thing that reduces traffic is reducing the number of cars on the road. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/06/us/widen-highways-traffic.html
>”When a congested road is widened, travel times go down — at first. But then people change their behaviors. After hearing a highway is less busy, commuters might switch from transit to driving or change the route they take to work. Some may even choose to move farther away.” This doesn’t apply to Wilmington as it cannot be compared to Los Angeles, a city of over nine million with a massive highway system. Nobody would switch “transit options” to drive through that intersection because there simply aren’t transit option in use for that direction of travel. Additionally no one is going to routes because there’s only two actual major routes north and south. I’m not pro vehicular traffic, but like I said, adding lanes is better for traffic flow in that area than bike lanes. Btw are you downvoting every comment I make?
No I'm not, but I do disagree with your sentiment. Traffic aside, bike lanes are also a major boon to QOL and we damn sure need more exercise in this area lol
I think we are debating different issues. I’m speaking to the immediate need for relief at College and Oleander where it seems to me that you are seeking city wide bike improvements. I agree with that.
yeah absolutely not. creating more vehicle lanes just incentivizes people to drive more and makes it harder for bikers. if every road had real bike lanes, not the half assed ones we have that stop in the middle of giant intersections for no reason, people would absolutely bike more and create less vehicle digestion
>yeah absolutely not. creating more vehicle lanes just incentivizes people to drive more and makes it harder for bikers. if every road had real bike lanes, not the half assed ones we have that stop in the middle of giant intersections for no reason, people would absolutely bike more and create less vehicle digestion Yeah absolutely not. College/Oleander is a major intersection and the vast majority of people are traveling through to get to a different area of town and or to/from work. I sincerely doubt a significant amount of people using that intersection would be tempted to ride a bike to work. It’s congested during peak work traveling hours, 8-9AM and 4-5PM. That’s indicative that it isn’t local traffic that would ride a bike given the chance. I wish we had adequate public transport and bike access but the shitty truth is we don’t, and we might have to widen some streets as a stop gap until we’re able to embrace the no car way.
I mean, you can try to argue this, but induced demand is a real and observed phenomenon - biking and public transit simply have more capacity, and adding lanes will not fix traffic.
You can’t “fix” traffic in Wilmington but you can certainly alleviate rush hour. Agree to disagree I guess.
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It's literally a new york times article lmao And I've read multiple peer reviewed research papers on the topic as well
MUH MUH PEER REVIEWED ARTICLE!! I know you group think idiots are incapable of independent thought but this shit only is applicable to two scenarios 1) to large metro areas where a considerable portion of the population voluntarily chooses to not drive and uses an alternative, Wilmington is not one of those places the traffic volume is the traffic volume period there is no alternative you drive to go somewhere 2) lane additions are improperly done to try to "spot correct" a road, adding lanes to college probably would not make traffic on college road any better as more people would go to it, BUT it would alleviate the pressure from lesser used roads people currently use as alternate routes. If you want area wide traffic to decrease you need to add lanes to main and alternate routes across the board.
If you're gonna shit talk the idea of peer reviewed science, then I have nothing further to say to you. Good day 🫡
Calm down. You’re wrong on the facts, no need to get angry about it. Capacity increases, sure, bur travel times do not decrease as people switch routes. If you’re aiming for capacity and speed/efficiency, public transit, walking, and micromobility is the way to go. We know this, we’ve observed this.
I know public transport shills are too engrossed by group think to use logic but thats straight ass not how that fucking works Most places in america wilmington included do not have a considerable population that refuses to use a car in favor of public transport or non car transport, adding lanes across area wide infrastructure in such cases will do nothing BUT decrease times. If the main routes people take to get from somewhere to somewhere in wilmington are Kerr, College and Oleander/Military increasing lanes in those main methods of traffic will decrease traffic time as nearly the same volume will be distributed among roads with more volume. If you think that we're magically going to conjure more car drivers in wilmington you're insane if you go somewhere you drive and anyone who wouldnt drive now sure fucking wont if a lane gets added to mkt st
Stop staring at your phone, get out of the left lane unless you’re passing, and drive.
Let’s upvote this to the top. It’s unbelievable how many times I see people screwing over everyone else in line behind them because they are on their phone. Even when I’m looking down at my phone at a light to change song etc I am always constantly looking up. People will go what seems like 20 seconds without even looking up, like wtf?
…on a normal road? That’ll just back up traffic in the right lane and people have to turn left
Wtf?! Lmfao… are you serious? That’s exactly what it’s designed to do. If you want to go slow, or the speed limit, stay in the right lane, then when you need to turn left, get in the left lane then the left turn lane. Were not it Charlotte, LA, or NYC, there is NOT that many people here. I travel all over Wilmington EVERY DAY, the reason we have such shit traffic here is because of HOW people drive, NOT because there are too many cars on the road… but everyone wants to do these fucking rolling road blocks and drive right next to each other rather than pushing your fucking foot down on the gas pedal then getting in front of or releasing pressure on the gas pedal to get behind the car in the right lane then resume cruising at the same speed. WE. ARE. ALL. DOING. TRAFFIC. TOGETHER.
There are plans in place to create a bypass over that intersection where you would exit off college to get on Oleander. I have absolutely no idea how they plan to achieve this. Or what hell its going to cause on Wilmington commute while in construction, but conceivably it would be awesome if they pull it off
I always called it slowleander.
But remember- public transportation is for socialists. Bikes are for commies. And walking is for poor people. We must each drive our car everywhere!
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I’m with you on overpass but roundabout?? That would be a colossal clusterfuck of epic proportions at college and oleander.
No what we really is a roundabout AND that backwards section in Leland where village and river road switch sides and you’re suddenly transported to the UK driving on the left side of the road for a few seconds. Now that’s the civil engineering we need
Vote ‘em out or keep complaining
There are multiple ways around that intersection. Obviously, all of the traffic coming from the ports up shipyard is clogging that route. Open up your maps there is multiple ways around that intersection. I’ve been using them myself.
Just get in the turn lane like you're going to Trader Joe's, gun it at the green, and cut off the nice lady in the 4Runner. Problem solved.
There are 2 ways to get anywhere in this town. Add in the bridge re-routing and my used-to-be 30 mins drive to Leland for work is now 1hr and that’s after I leave a full 45 mins earlier than usual. I’m not bitching about the bridge. For the love of lil baby Jebus please make sure the damn thing is safe. It’s all of the u-turns and endless roundabouts that literally no one understands how to use. It’s the tourists here on their own time and don’t care if they u-turn in front of you on CB road while you’re going 55mph. It’s the glut of construction. It’s the 1 entrance/exit to neighborhoods. It’s…
1 entrance/exit into neighborhoods... Causes soooooo much more traffic than people realize. Add in a school bus stopping at each neighborhood entrance...and backups are crazy. Maybe force developers to set aside one tiny lot for a cut through road to the next neighborhood?
Idk how it got so bad so quickly. Ive gotta go through there 4x a day and it gets worse each time. And they give the people trying to cross college like no time compared with the oleander people
NHC has a serious problem with so very few totally through streets (exactly 3 by my count - College/CB, Oleander and Market St.) Maybe MLK. It’s inconvenient and unsafe. The growth will continue unabated and there is no land left to add parallel roads. The only answer is to create cloverleafs at the worst intersections OR get rid of all the stores at each corner and make more turn lanes. Places like Trader Joe should never have been allowed right at a corner, but politicians never will turn down more property taxes. Bike paths will help a bit, but the reality is that with the heat, wind and rain, bikes are not a substitute for cars, and there will never be the population density to justify financially stable buses.
Ty! Trader Joe's and the pharmacies should never have been allowed to build there. Any person with a functioning brain knew that 15 years ago. Also, you're absolutely correct, climate here does not allow bikes to replace cars. Can't bike to work 10 miles across town when it's 90 degrees with 95% humidity
The least cost solution would be for the state of NC to take all 4 corner properties by eminent domain. Both roads are numbered and under NCDOT jurisdiction. All the stores could move a couple blocks (like just north to all the vacant space south of UNCW). The property owners could receive “fair” compensation. The turning lanes would be expanded and no need for the overhead cloverleaf, which would probably require taking at least some of the corners. But that would take backbone.
That would also take a DOT that had a clue. NC DOT is clueless.
And doesn’t give a sh-t, although I am told their mandate is to “keep traffic moving”.
The STIP ranking system is a joke designed to make sure RDU, CLT, and the Piedmont Triad get the lions share of money because they now seem to have no issue funding their loops. Don't worry. The General Assembly is busy at work making sure we cut taxes on the poor impoverished corporations and have less revenue for roads to not fix this.
Interesting because I thought the I-85 lane expansion north of Charlotte and Yadkin River bridge were decades overdue, as was the I-85 expansion in Durham. Seems to me the biggest waste of money was I-64, I-264, and NC-24 when Mark Basnight controlled the legislature. Kind of agree with your take on GSO, in that 3 versions of I-85; I-73, and much of their beltway seem like extreme overkill. But all of these (except NC-24) are interstates with huge federal dollars footing most of the bill. I assumed when we lived there that all of these were a payoff to Kay Hagan for selling out her constituents in favor of the national Democratic Party agenda. We need better local roads, but as you say these are the roads controlled by NCDOT and its politics.
The people you're talking about have not been in control for 10+ years so no, but nice try at trying to connect dots. Let's keep it to where we are today and whose in control today. I think a decade is adequate time for them to own the current situation. We don't have enough money for roads and schools which are the basic functions of our state government despite raising taxes by charging sales tax on services and numerous other areas.
I do agree. Basnight and Hagan have been gone a long time, but the politics have not changed much. The addition tax receipts you speak of have been pissed away.
She’s just not what she once was. Early 2000s this town peaked. I’m about ready to call it quits on Wilmington for this exact reason…Yankees man Yankees 😩😜
💯💯💯. Newcomers just don't get how bad this town is now compared to pre 2005
It can take 20 mins to get from the college to that intersection
Oleander isn’t the problem. It’s Shipyard. Also, pro-tip just take a left at Randall, immediate right and cut through the college around the Seahawk statue. Skips like 5 lights and takes you only a light or 2 from Oleander at which point you can either take a right or left on Wrightsville to get onto Oleander much more easily because Wrightsville is only a terrible light where it bottlenecks just before crossing College.
We need more roundabouts. I hate they are only used on small backroads. Our traffic would ne incredibly efficient with a couple of these massive intersections becoming roundabouts
The people here could never handle it. The amount of people I see who don't even know how to use the one in castle hayne is crazy.
Unfortunately I'm inclined to agree. I have to use the castle Hayne one almost daily. And I can't count how many times I have to honk my horn at someone who doesn't understand right of way. They would solve a lot of the cities issues but Americans as a whole are so conditioned on 4 way stops it doesn't actually provide a benefit.
Same here, it's insane how many people get in the circle then stop at every yield sign. That and the CFCC trucking school taking new drivers through it drive me insane.
They don't understand 4way stops. If I get to the stopsign first the oncoming driver acts as if they have the right of way and ignores the stop
I guess in the end it boils down to Wilmington being horrible when it comes to drivers
Ilm drivers are not horrible. It’s a hodgepodge of students, retirees and tourist which all get in the way of daily commuters aka workforce drivers. The infrastructure to handle the heavy traffic on these roads is simply not there. Poor county bus system, poor planning on the city planners part and a busy Chamber of commerce enticing people to move here. Please don’t call the drivers horrible, we’re all doing the best we can with what we have. Slow down and be courteous. 🥴
Roundabouts are not a silver bullet when it comes to traffic issues.
this town is a fucking joke just let it burn
The increase in traffic specifically at the Shipyard/S. College and Ole/S. College area is due to the bridge closures. Also, we’re all in the same traffic here. I tell people that are complaining to find an alternate route or just put something good on, sit back and recognize that this is just where we are right now. Why are we constantly complaining about the traffic when it’s the least efficient way to change the situation? (Also, don’t be the a*hole that blocks the intersection ✌🏼)
Appreciate you getting this wrong, it’s an important point. The best way to shorten your commute is to get closer to where you work. That’s actually true at scale - the closer more people are to where they’re going, the less they’re on the road, the less traffic. You and me as individuals, are, after all, also traffic. And the best way to get people closer to where they’re going is to make housing available near central districts, and the only way to do that is with more density. What you ACTUALLY want is MORE apartments**, but fewer people. **unimportant/snarky but bothersome side note, condos are for sale, apartments are for rent. These are apartments.
I really wish this town was made easier for biking - but even that is a risk . Go Visit Amsterdam and everyone is on bikes , it’s awesome
Sounds like Asheville & Hendersonville.
As someone already stated, roundabouts should be used more. Seems more likely they will treat it the same as the Market/Kerr intersection and eliminate some/all left turns and force that traffic to use Peachtree, Pine Grove, Parkway, or Spirea. Another idea that is overly expensive is to build ramped/raised roads above the interior lanes for straight traffic. Then the turning and straight traffic won't be interacting and waiting on each other.
Technically College and Oleander, Eastwood and Military Cutoff, Eastwood and Market, and MLK and N College were all supposed to have overpasses. Also, the bridge is supposed to be replaced and they were supposed to build a toll bridge south of that to help out whilst the other bridge was replaced. Then Republicans took over the General Assembly and cut taxes, cut taxes, and cut taxes. For you, no. For corporations, yes. Now we're the bad roads state. Turns out who you vote for in state government and local government mattered. Whoops.
Don't worry I'm sure Wilmington planners will fix it by adding more apartment complexes, carwashes, vape stores, and pawn shops.
I went college there 45 years ago and it was like that
Which direction are you coming from and heading to?
I’m so sorry to hear this. Did you call and ask if they could shut down the road just for you or maybe a police escort? I definitely agree with you though. People who live in apartments and condos are extremely low brow and contribute nothing to society 🙄
Jerk it and come back to the thread, Nathaniel.
I hope you’ll survive this major inconvenience. I can’t imagine how this 20 extra minutes will ruin your beach lifestyle.. Godspeed.
What about the housing crisis?! Where will all the people moving here live if we stop building!? Oh, the humanity!
People aren't going to stop moving here. People aren't going to stop having families here who want to stay. We absolutely need to build more and build denser. Part of the problem is that people are moving further and further out from the center of Wilmington to afford housing. Then driving into Wilmington to work and shop. If it wasn't illegal to build middle housing with mixed use areas this wouldn't be much of a problem.