The N.C. Department of Transportation is exploring an alternate alignment of the Hampstead Bypass that would allow drivers to continue south on what is now U.S. 17.

in response to concerns over the federally endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers, the DOT's current plan proposes an unusual traffic pattern that would force bypass drivers to back track to reach some homes and businesses on U.S. 17. If the bypass were built from those plans, folks who live north of the Topsail schools would have to drive past them on the bypass, exit on an interchange then backtrack north to get to school.

Hampstead  residents have roundly rejected the traffic movement and have asked the DOT to preserve southbound access. The DOT is exploring an alternative, confirmed Jay McInnis, a DOT engineer who works in the project development and environmental analysis unit in Raleigh.

on Wednesday, the Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization will hold a public hearing on the current corridor maps for the bypass.

 

This info was taken from the Star News article written by Julian March, Novemeber 16th, 2011