Bike & Ped Plans

The Wrightsville Beach Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan is a community-driven initiative that establishes the vision for walking and biking in the Town of Wrightsville Beach. The plan includes tailored recommendations to create a safer, more connected, and accessible transportation network, grouped into near-, mid-, and long-term priorities. The plan also provides a variety of programs and policies to support the implementation of project recommendations. Development of the plan began in March 2023 with key touch points with the public to identify needs, challenges, and opportunities for walking and biking.

The City of Wilmington, in recognizing the desire of its citizens for a more walkable, livable community, applied for and received an NCDOT Planning Grant in 2021 to update the 2009 Walk Wilmington Comprehensive Pedestrian Plan. Over 1,000 survey responses were received and used by Alta as a framework to guide the development of project and policy recommendations. The Walk Wilmington Steering Committee reviewed the draft priority areas identified through this framework. The updated plan will serve as a guide for prioritizing safe, healthy, and equitable pedestrian infrastructure improvements and policies in Wilmington.

Pender County, in collaboration with the WMPO and consultant WSP, developed a comprehensive Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan to direct multimodal development within the southern portion of the County. The final plan will be used to prioritize bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure implementation that will improve mobility, increase safety, and strengthen the connectivity for multimodal transportation options in southern Pender County.

The Kure Beach Bicycle & Pedestrian Plan will aid the Town in the development and prioritization of its bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure needs. Plan development was guided by a steering committee and included two public meetings and stakeholder interviews as part of a 3-day charrette activity. Approximately 150 members of the public attended the public meetings, and an additional 436 responses were provided through an online interactive map tool.

The Town of Navassa Comprehensive Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan identifies and prioritizes projects, policies, and programs to improve the Town’s multimodal infrastructure. Plan development was guided by a steering committee and incorporated public input via an in-person public workshop as well as a project website and online comment map.

In January 2020, the Wilmington MPO and the Friends of the Wilmington Rail Trail kicked off the development of a multimodal master plan for the downtown rail corridor between 3rd Street and McRae Street. The effort was funded by the WMPO’s federal Direct Attributable program and a donation from the Arts Council of Wilmington and New Hanover County. The purpose of the plan is to address the feasibility for use of the corridor by bicycles, pedestrians, and future passenger rail service. The final plan offers potential alignment and points of access, as well as recommendations for the integration of public art into the corridor.

The development of the plan was guided by a steering committee comprised of WMPO, City of Wilmington, and NCDOT staff, as well as members of the Friends of the Wilmington Rail Trail, the Arts Council, and citizen advocates for the project. Stakeholder involvement and the understanding of existing conditions and constraints was incorporated into the plan’s development as well as public input attained through a public survey and 14-day public comment period on the draft plan. The final plan, which can be viewed at the link below, was adopted by the WMPO Board on November 18, 2020.

This Plan is intended to provide a framework for identifying pedestrian needs, both in terms of physical infrastructure and encouragement programs for the Town of Carolina Beach. The vision for this pedestrian master plan is to enhance the livability of Carolina Beach by creating an appealing, walkable environment for both residents and visitors.

This is the first pedestrian plan for the Town of Leland. The plan will be used to identify and prioritize pedestrian and greenway projects in Leland. It will also help enhance the pedestrian environment by guiding community programs, getting projects into the state STIP, improving eligibility for other funding, and connecting a pedestrian network.

This is an 11-mile on-and-off-road bicycle route that follows the Historic Beach Car Line.The bikeway is comprised of neighborhood residential streets, off-road multi-use paths and a few arterial roadways. It provides bicycle and pedestrian access to numerous recreational, cultural, and educational destinations in Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach.

This plan provides a framework for the establishment of a comprehensive network of greenways in the City of Wilmington and New Hanover County to enhance opportunities for multi-modal transportation and recreation to include plans for walking, bicycling, canoeing and kayaking.

In 2008, the Wilmington City Council adopted the Cross-City Trail alignment. Tentative plans for the Cross-City Trail arose from the passage of the Parks and Greenspace Bond, of which $1 million was allocated for a bike-hike greenway system, and expanded through private and public partnerships and through connections to existing or funded off-road trails. The trail is anticipated to be fully constructed by the end of 2016.

This plan creates a vision and framework for Carolina Beach to become a more bicycle and multi‐use path friendly environment that provides inter-connectivity to the various town destinations.

This study examines different alternatives for on-road and off-road bicycle facilities along the Pelican Drive and Salisbury Street corridor in the Town of Wrightsville Beach.

In 2007, the City of Wilmington received a grant from the North Carolina Department of Transportation to develop a comprehensive pedestrian plan. The final plan was adopted by Wilmington City Council on August 4, 2009. With this plan, the City of Wilmington and NCDOT hope to meet the demands for safer and more extensive pedestrian facilities, including greenways, sidewalks, and crosswalks. The comprehensive pedestrian plan will guide local, regional and state efforts to improve conditions for walking in the City of Wilmington and increase our reputation as one of the premier tourism and recreation destinations in the southeast.

The Comprehensive Bicycle Plan for Leland was adopted in 2008. This Plan provides the Town with a planning tool, which will assist in the expansion, promotion, and funding of safe and efficient bicycle facilities and programs and initiatives  throughout Leland.