By Catherine M. Welch
Wilmington, NC – Traffic planners at the City of Wilmington will roll out plans Thursday night to possibly cut the number of lanes on a stretch of Market Street.
The city is looking at Market Street from Covil to Third, trimming it from four to two lanes and filling up the remaining space with bike lanes and/ or turn lanes at certain intersections.
Mike Kozlosky is Senior Transportation Planner for the City of Wilmington. He says new roads such as the Martin Luther King Parkway have cut traffic on Market Street enough for the city to start looking at ways to make it more attractive.
How we want to go about reducing the number of lanes, you could possibly increase the median width, where there is currently a median. Or you can do curb extensions which would add front yardage to properties along that area, also the possibility of side walks where they're currently missing.
Kozlosky says the city has been looking at this stretch of Market Street since April.
Thursday night's public meeting will be held at New Hanover High School, and will run from 4 to 8 o'clock at night.