"I use this bridge almost every day of my life," longtime Wrightsville Beach resident Campbell Carter told WWAY in March, standing near the West Salisbury Street bridges. He was talking about getting to the water. Plenty of people cross that same bridge on foot every morning without thinking of it as a bridge at all. To them it's simply one stretch of the Loop.
The Wilmington Road Runners Club has put a date on the change. Its Seaside Shuffle 5K on Saturday, October 24, starts at Wrightsville Beach Park, and the club bills it as "the last 5K on the traditional Wrightsville Beach 'Loop' Course before bridge construction begins." The John Nesbitt Loop is a 2.45-mile ring, and it only works as a ring while every crossing on it is open. This fall is the last stretch before one of those crossings closes, and the Town's replacement for the full circuit is still on the drawing board.
Lees Cut Is the First Break in the Ring
The N.C. Department of Transportation is replacing three bridges under project HB-0040. They are the US 76 Causeway Drive bridge over Banks Channel and two US 74 bridges on West Salisbury Street, one over Lees Cut and one over Banks Channel. The shortest of the three goes first. In a release last updated October 1, NCDOT announced that Balfour Beatty had won the Phase 1 contract, worth $8.67 million, to build the new West Salisbury Street bridge over Lees Cut and relocate the waterline.
The work is already starting. NCDOT expects the waterline relocation to begin this month and take four to eight weeks. In the meantime, crews and equipment will be on Pelican Drive and on the shoulder of West Salisbury Street, mostly outside the travel lanes. WECT also reported a separate daytime closure of the westbound lane near Lees Cut from Tuesday, October 6, through Friday, October 9, for drilling and soil testing.
Once the waterline is moved, West Salisbury Street over Lees Cut closes completely. NCDOT says it will announce the date once one is set. Port City Daily reported in August that the closure will run from Lookout Harbour to the eastern entrance of Pelican Drive. Causeway Drive will keep two lanes open in each direction, and its multiuse path will stay open throughout Phase 1.
That leaves the main unanswered question for walkers and runners. None of the published material says whether pedestrians will be able to cross at Lees Cut during construction, and no one has released a signed detour or a mileage for any shortened route.
What the Town Is Designing Around the Gap
The Town of Wrightsville Beach is treating the Loop as its own project, separate from the bridges. At the March meeting of the Bridge Replacement Committee, chair Neal Andrew said the Town had hired a contractor to look at the Loop's design, lighting, and pedestrian safety.
"Walking the loop here at the beach is certainly a big part daily life for residents and visitors and the town is actively figuring out a way to maintain some sort of loop during the bridge closures."
The idea he described was a set of "mini loops" or other pedestrian areas for use once construction begins. The committee minutes from June 15 add more detail. The Town manager reported plans to widen the Loop's pathway and to build a multiuse path for use while the bridges are under construction. Preliminary design was underway, and the Board of Aldermen had budgeted money for the work.
So the plan has two tracks. One is a temporary route to carry people through the construction years. The other is a permanent upgrade to the Loop itself. Neither had a final alignment in any of the material available as of early October.
The Crossings That Come Back
The new bridges will carry far more room for people on foot and on bikes than the ones they replace. NCDOT's design gives the Causeway Drive bridge a 12-foot multiuse path plus separate 6-foot bike lanes. Each Salisbury Street bridge gets a 12-foot multiuse path and two 6-foot bike lanes.
| Crossing | Order of work | Planned travel lanes | Planned walking and biking space |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Salisbury St. over Lees Cut | Phase 1, starting late 2026 | One 12-foot lane each direction | 12-foot multiuse path, two 6-foot bike lanes |
| West Salisbury St. over Banks Channel | Phase 2, starting summer 2027 | One 12-foot lane each direction | 12-foot multiuse path, two 6-foot bike lanes |
| Causeway Drive over Banks Channel | Follows, built in stages | Four lanes | 12-foot multiuse path, separate 6-foot bike lanes |
Port City Daily reported that Phase 1 at Lees Cut is expected to take about a year. During the Salisbury long bridge phase, the new short bridge and Causeway Drive stay open, while West Salisbury closes from Lookout Harbor to North Lumina Avenue. Parking on West Salisbury Street stays available. The Causeway Drive bridge will be built in stages. A new structure goes up just north of the current bridge, traffic moves onto it, and the old span is torn down and rebuilt. The two halves are then joined, and at least one travel lane stays open in each direction the whole time. When finished, the new bridge should sit about four feet higher at its center than the one there now.
The finish date is a range. In August, NCDOT presented spring 2030 as its accelerated target. The project page, last updated September 3, 2026, still estimates completion in 2030 to 2032. Either way, the full Loop won't return for several seasons.
Boaters will feel it too. According to the Coast Guard update in the June committee minutes, the Heide Trask Drawbridge will open only on the hour once bridge construction begins this fall.
A Fall Calendar Anchored at the Loop's Trailhead
If the Loop is going to become a set of shorter routes, Wrightsville Beach Park at 321 Causeway Drive is where most of them will meet. It's also where most of this fall's events are scheduled. Here is the season as currently listed, centered on the park:
- WB Bike Rodeo, Sunday, October 18, 2 to 5 p.m., run by Wrightsville Beach Parks & Recreation.
- Parks & Recreation needs-assessment input sessions, October 20 and 21 at 6 p.m. at 321 Causeway Drive.
- Seaside Shuffle 5K, Saturday, October 24. Packet pickup runs 7 to 7:45 a.m. and the race starts at 8. Proceeds go to the Wilmington Road Runners Scholarship Program.
- Movies in the Park, with "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" on October 30 and "The Santa Clause" on December 4. Both are free. Start times for the October screening differ between listings, so check the Town calendar that week. The December showing starts at 6 p.m., and concessions will be for sale.
- Wrightsville Beach Farmers Market, every Monday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. through December 7. It moved to the Wrightsville Beach Park Softball Field this season, with free parking next to Causeway Drive.
The rest of the season spreads out from the park along the water:
- IRONMAN 70.3 North Carolina, October 17. The 1.2-mile swim starts at Wrightsville Beach, and the race finishes in downtown Wilmington.
- Oceanic's Annual Oyster Roast, October 24 from 5 to 8 p.m., the same evening as the Shuffle. Oceanic follows it with Puppies on the Patio for Howl-oween on October 31 from 4 to 7 p.m., with a pup parade at 5:45.
- Taste of Wrightsville Beach, Saturday, November 14, 5 to 8 p.m., under a tent in the Bluewater Waterfront Grill parking lot. Port City Daily reports more than 35 tasting booths, with proceeds going to Weekend Meals on Wheels.
- Tree Lighting Ceremony, November 27 at Town Hall. Elf Patrol arrives at 5:30 p.m., Santa at 5:45, and the Wilmington Celebration Choir sings at 6.
- North Carolina Holiday Flotilla, November 27 to 29. The captains' meeting and the kickoff hosted by Bluewater are Friday. Day in the Park runs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, followed by the parade at 6 and fireworks. Awards are Sunday at 10 a.m. Vendor applications for 2026 are sold out.
Two dates on that list bear directly on the Loop's future. The Shuffle on October 24 is the last organized race on the full traditional course. The needs-assessment sessions on October 20 and 21 are open to the public at the same address while the Town is still designing the temporary multiuse path and the wider Loop.
The full 2.45-mile Loop is open as of this weekend. The Lees Cut closure date hasn't been announced, so every lap between now and that notice is still on the full course.
If you'd like help thinking through how the bridge timeline affects a waterfront home, a boat slip, or a property near the Causeway, Kenyon Realty Group follows these projects closely. Schedule a private consultation, and we'll go over the latest NCDOT and Town updates with you.
