The John Nesbitt Loop starts at the town complex. It heads down Causeway Drive, turns onto North Lumina Avenue, comes back up West Salisbury Street and returns down Causeway to where it began. Wrightsville Beach Magazine describes the route that way. The StarNews puts it at 2.45 miles around Wrightsville Beach Park. The Salisbury leg of that walk is about to run into a construction zone.
NCDOT's $105 million project to replace three bridges from the 1960s and '70s starts this fall with Lees Cut, the short bridge on West Salisbury Street. The plan is built around a single promise: two lanes on and off the island at all times. To keep that promise, the plan moves the disruption onto walkers on the Loop, boats waiting at the drawbridge and races that used to start on the island.
What Phase One Closes, and What Stays Open
Port City Daily reported in August that the Lees Cut phase will close West Salisbury Street from Lookout Harbour to the eastern entrance of Pelican Drive for about a year. Causeway Drive keeps two lanes in each direction and its multiuse path. The new bridge goes up just north of the old one, and crews will tear down the old span while they build the new one.
Crews have already been on site. NCDOT flaggers closed the westbound lane of West Salisbury near Lees Cut from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., October 6 through 9, for drilling and soil testing, WECT reported. The full closure has no calendar date yet. The NCDOT project page says only that construction is expected by the end of 2026 and that the bridge will not close to traffic until after Labor Day.
This is where the Loop comes in. At an October 5 community meeting, the Wrightsville Beach Bridge Replacement Committee said access to The Loop will be restricted once Lees Cut construction begins. The Town plans to announce dates when it has them. Committee chair Neal Andrew told WECT:
"I feel it's important to make sure my neighbors, my friends, and business owners are as prepared as possible for the upcoming work that will be disruptive, but we are trying to minimize those disruptions."
Drivers have Causeway as their way around Lees Cut. Anyone whose morning walk or run uses the Salisbury side of the Loop is waiting on the Town for a reroute.
The Drawbridge Is Being Asked to Help the Cars, Too
The same thinking extends onto the Intracoastal Waterway. In August the Coast Guard published a proposed rule in the Federal Register for the S.R. 74 Heide Trask Bridge. It states the purpose directly: to relieve traffic congestion on the bridge while lanes are reduced on the nearby bridges under construction. NCDOT, which owns the bridge, asked for the change.
Most daytime boaters already know the top-of-the-hour pattern. The proposal extends it to every hour of the day and to most commercial traffic.
| Vessel and time | Current schedule | Proposed, Nov. 1, 2026 to June 30, 2030 |
|---|---|---|
| Pleasure boats, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. | On the hour | On the hour |
| Pleasure boats, overnight | On signal | On the hour |
| Commercial vessels | On signal at all times | On the hour |
| Towing, dredging, marine construction, aids-to-navigation crews that cannot make a scheduled opening | On signal | On signal with at least 30 minutes' notice |
| Emergencies | Not listed | Opens with at least 10 minutes' notice |
The bridge itself has 20 feet of vertical clearance at mean high water when closed. As proposed, any boat taller than that would run on the hour through June 30, 2030. The proposal also says the drawbridge returns to its normal schedule once construction is complete. Public comments closed September 28, and the regulations.gov docket is where a final rule would be posted. WECT's October report says the drawbridge will open only on the hour once active construction begins. Until the docket posts a final rule, though, the table above is still a proposal.
The Marathon Already Moved Its Start
Road races are one more slow use of the island that the project is pushing out. The Wilmington Marathon has long started at Wrightsville Beach. For February 27, 2027, the race's official site says the start line moves to UNCW "due to construction at Wrightsville Beach." The downtown finish stays the same.
The organizers made that call before NCDOT had set a closure date. It shows how much room an event needs when the island's road plan is built to protect through traffic.
The Holiday Weekend Lands at the Start of It All
The island's biggest weekend of the year arrives during phase one's opening months. As posted by the Town calendar and the NC Holiday Flotilla, the schedule is:
- Friday, Nov. 27, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Christmas Kickoff & Tree Lighting Ceremony at Wrightsville Beach Park, 321 Causeway Drive. Elf Patrol arrives at 5:30, Santa at 5:45 and the Wilmington Celebration Choir sings at 6.
- Friday, Nov. 27, 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Flotilla captains' meeting, followed by the kickoff party hosted by Bluewater Grill.
- Saturday, Nov. 28, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Flotilla Day in the Park.
- Saturday, Nov. 28, 6 p.m. Boat parade, followed by fireworks.
- Sunday, Nov. 29, 10 a.m. Flotilla awards ceremony.
The organizers' posted 2026 schedule mentions no construction-related changes. The Wilmington and Beaches listing says more details will be shared closer to the event. Wrightsville Beach Park, the center of the Loop, is also where the Monday farmers' market sets up on the softball field from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. through December 7. That puts the island's regular gatherings right next to the walking route that is about to lose access.
The People Paying Now Get the Most Back Later
The trade-off reverses once construction is finished. None of the new bridges adds a travel lane. WECT reports that each one will have a 10-to-12-foot multiuse path and 6-foot dedicated bike lanes.
- Salisbury Street bridges: one 12-foot lane each way, with bike lanes about 6 feet wide on both sides.
- Causeway bridge: four 11-foot lanes, a 6-foot bike lane on each side and a 12-foot multiuse path.
- On all three bridges: concrete parapet walls between the multiuse path and the vehicle and bike lanes.
Wrightsville Beach Magazine notes that the Loop narrows where it crosses Banks Channel. The walkers and runners losing Loop access this winter are the ones who will get the walled-off paths at the end.
Getting there will take time. After Lees Cut, the Salisbury Long Bridge is scheduled to start in summer 2027. West Salisbury would then close from Lookout Harbor to North Lumina Avenue, though parking along West Salisbury would stay open. Causeway bridge work follows from 2028 to 2030. NCDOT moved the finish from 2032 to spring 2030. Division 3 Highway Engineer Trevor Carroll told Port City Daily the earlier date is "our projection," "our target" and "our goal." The cost estimate has risen from an initial $70 million to $105 million. WECT reports that police, fire and EMS crews will be posted on both sides of the work zones throughout.
The Town is planning a separate project at the Causeway Drive, Waynick Boulevard and North Lumina Avenue intersection. It includes dual left-turn lanes from Waynick onto Causeway and moving the Causeway crosswalk at Wynn Plaza. As of the Town's July update, it was still in design, construction could start as early as this fall, and a schedule would be announced once it was set.
The Bridge Replacement Committee meets next on November 9 in the Wrightsville Beach Public Safety Building Conference Room. That meeting is the most likely place for the Loop dates to be announced.
If you own on Harbor Island or along the Salisbury corridor, a four-year construction schedule is part of any plan to hold, rent or sell. Chris Luther and our team follow each phase as it moves, and we can show you what it means for your property's timing. Request Your Free Coastal Home Valuation, and we'll walk you through the phase-by-phase schedule for your address.
