MyReporter: What's the latest on the Hampstead Bypass?
Looking to ease traffic and improve safety around the U.S. 17 corridor in Pender and New Hanover counties, the Hampstead Bypass will provide a route around Scotts Hill and Hampstead by the end of the decade.
The estimated $429 million project is split in two segments. Work on Segment B, which extends from N.C. 210 to north of Hampstead, began in March 2022 and is currently under construction.
Segment A extends from N.C. 140, formerly known as the U.S. 17 Wilmington Bypass, to N.C. 210. The two segments together will stretch 13 miles in total.
Bypassing busy Hampstead looks to improve traffic and safety along U.S. 17, as well as ease traffic congestion in the Pender County community.
When will each segment open?
Construction on Segment B is scheduled to open to traffic by 2026. Originally, construction on Segment A was set to break ground in the fall of 2026, but officials with the N.C. Department of Transportation and the Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization announced in late 2022 an agreement to expedite that timeline. Now, it is estimated work on Segment A will break ground in summer 2025.
The project has been in the works for over a decade. In 2011, the initial environmental impact statement was approved and the first public hearing was held. Right-of-way acquisition began in 2018 for both sections of the Hampstead Bypass, and construction began in early 2022.
When will the project be completed?
The entire bypass is expected to be complete and open to traffic by 2030. Both segments are being funded through the NCDOT’s State Transportation Improvement Program.
The project will link up with the recently completed Military Cutoff Road extension, a four-mile extension which was under construction in northern New Hanover County for five years and officially opened to traffic in September.
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This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: What's the latest on the Hampstead Bypass?
