At 5 a.m. on Monday, November 30, NCDOT's contractor plans to close West Salisbury Street over Lees Cut to everyone, people on foot included. That cuts the 2.45-mile John T. Nesbitt Loop, and the Loop stays broken until the new bridge opens, which NCDOT projects for summer 2027.
The Lees Cut bridge is the first of three bridges the state plans to replace on and around the island. To keep some version of the walk going while the bridges are rebuilt, the town has a $1.5 million grant behind it and plans a new path through Wrightsville Beach Park.
The Last Full Lap Falls on Flotilla Weekend
The closure starts the morning after the busiest weekend of the island's holiday season. According to the North Carolina Holiday Flotilla schedule, the weekend runs like this:
- Friday, Nov. 27: the captains' meeting and the kickoff at Bluewater Grill. The town's Christmas tree lighting runs 5:30 to 8 p.m. the same evening, according to the town's November recreation calendar.
- Saturday, Nov. 28: Day in the Park from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., then the boat parade at 6 p.m., followed by fireworks.
- Sunday, Nov. 29: awards at 10 a.m.
- Monday, Nov. 30, 5 a.m.: West Salisbury Street closes from Pelican Drive to Lookout Harbor Way.
The Sunday morning after the awards is the last scheduled chance to walk the whole Loop until next summer. There's a caveat. NCDOT says the start date may shift, because it depends on finishing the utility relocation already underway. Drivers should also expect lane closures on West Salisbury Street to come and go in the weeks before the full closure, so that stretch may already feel different by Thanksgiving.
What Closes, and Why Walkers Lose It Too
The closed section of U.S. 74 runs from Pelican Drive to Lookout Harbor Way. Balfour Beatty's crews will tear down the old Lees Cut bridge and build the new one in that space. NCDOT's October 30 announcement is clear on access: "No vehicular or pedestrian traffic will be permitted in the work zone."
That sentence is what breaks the Loop. The town's land use plan describes the route as starting at Causeway Drive, following North Lumina Drive, crossing Salisbury Street over Banks Channel and coming back around to Causeway Drive. With the Salisbury side cut at Lees Cut, the circle has a gap. The Wrightsville Beach Museum of History at 303 W. Salisbury St. sits on that Salisbury stretch too.
Mayor Ken Dull said it directly in the October 2026 edition of The Loop, the town's newsletter. He wrote that the full Loop "is disconnected as a result of the NCDOT's bridge replacement project."
Where the Shorter Loop Will Run
The town's plan for the gap runs through Wrightsville Beach Park. The mayor's newsletter describes "a new path through Wrightsville Beach Park that will better connect Causeway Drive and Salisbury Street," and says it will "help provide a smaller 'loop' for users while the full Loop is disconnected."
The park sits between the two roads, so it's the natural place for a connector. Its west end holds Harbor Way Gardens, a public garden on town-owned land between West Salisbury Street and Causeway Drive.
For walkers, the shorter loop changes what a lap means. Anyone who counted on the full 2.45 miles as a set distance will get a different number from the park route, and runners training by the old lap will want to re-measure once the path is open.
Lees Cut Is the First of Three Bridges
The winter closure is the start of a longer sequence. NCDOT's project covers three bridges: the two on West Salisbury Street and the Causeway Drive bridge. Lees Cut, the smallest, goes first. When it reopens, NCDOT says crews will move on to the longer West Salisbury Street bridge over Banks Channel.
The NCDOT project page puts the whole program at about $105 million, with completion estimated for 2030 to 2032. Summer 2027 marks the end of Phase 1, and the island's bridge work continues well after that.
| When | What is scheduled |
|---|---|
| Now through late November | Utility relocation and intermittent lane closures on West Salisbury Street |
| Nov. 27 to 29 | Holiday Flotilla weekend and town tree lighting |
| Nov. 30, 5 a.m. | Full closure from Pelican Drive to Lookout Harbor Way, no cars or pedestrians |
| Summer 2027 | New Lees Cut bridge projected to reopen |
| After Lees Cut reopens | Construction shifts to the West Salisbury Street bridge over Banks Channel |
| 2030 to 2032 | Estimated completion of the full three-bridge project |
Seen against that calendar, the $1.5 million grant makes sense. The New Hanover Community Endowment announced the award on September 29. It said the money will help keep a walking route open during NCDOT's bridge replacement work and pay for planning and design of "a wider, fully accessible Loop."
What Comes Back When Lees Cut Reopens
The new bridge has dedicated room for people on foot and on bikes. NCDOT's plan calls for two 12-foot travel lanes, one in each direction, two 6-foot bike lanes, and a 12-foot multi-use path on the south side.
The town is also paying for additions of its own. The StarNews reported on October 27 that Wrightsville Beach will spend about the same amount as the Endowment grant on aesthetic "betterments" for the new bridges. Together, the Endowment grant and the town's own spending come to roughly $3 million for the Loop and the bridges.
Getting On and Off the Island Meanwhile
Causeway Drive becomes the main way on and off the island during Phase 1. NCDOT's public information page says Causeway Drive and the other West Salisbury bridge stay open while Lees Cut is rebuilt.
In July, WWAY reported that Neal Andrew, who chairs the town's Bridge Replacement Committee, said at least two lanes would stay open in each direction onto and off the island. In the same report, Wrightsville Beach Chamber of Commerce executive director Kyle Hanlin said businesses were thinking about deliveries and daily operations. He also said delivery times should respect residents' quiet.
The Heide Trask Drawbridge is part of the traffic plan as well. In an August 27 Federal Register notice, the Coast Guard proposed limiting the bridge to openings on the hour for commercial and recreational vessels through June 30, 2030. Some commercial operations giving 30 minutes' notice would be excepted, and emergencies giving 10 minutes' notice would be too. The notice lists the proposal as a response to NCDOT's request to ease congestion during the nearby bridge replacements. The town committee's October 5 agenda recorded verbal approval and said it was waiting on official written approval.
That committee's issues list shows how many corners of island life the closure reaches. It includes emergencies, traffic and pedestrian signals, deliveries, services, evacuation, school access, church services, normal events and special events.
NCDOT invites residents to sign up for project updates on its Wrightsville Beach bridge project page, and it says it will keep sending updates as the work goes on.
At Tatum Real Estate, we're following each phase of the Wrightsville Beach bridge work, from the shorter park loop to the Banks Channel bridge that comes next. If you're trying to figure out what the construction years mean for your daily routine or your property, talk to a local agent today.
