Maintained by the N.C. Department of Transportation since it was built in 1969, the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge is reaching the end of its lifecycle and must be monitored, inspected and repaired more frequently.
In November 2020, the Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization’s
Cape Fear Moving Forward 2045 Metropolitan Transportation Plan was adopted. This plan identified the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge Replacement and ranked it 58th out of 79 in the Fiscally Constrained Roadway Project List with a planning year of 2040.
The existing bridge underwent a
preservation project to extend its usefulness in January 2024, and repairs were completed ahead of scheduled in May 2024.
In July 2024, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded a $242 million grant to NCDOT to assist with the cost of replacing the existing bridge. Planning and development are underway for replacing the bridge.