Blue Clay Road Corridor Bicycle Facilities Study, New Hanover County, NC

Project Description > The Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization (WMPO) conducted a bicycle facilities study along the Blue Clay Road Corridor.  The goal of the project was to determine the best bicycle route along the Blue Clay Road corridor from Holly Shelter Road to North 23rd Street.  The corridor will connect major destinations including the Cape Fear Community College, local schools, parks, and Downtown Wilmington.  The consultant team of Greenways Incorporated (GWI), Parsons Brinckerhoff and CLH Design supported the WMPO in this effort to develop a mostly off-road facility that will support bicycle travel as the region grows.

As part of a multi-modal transportation system, the WMPO is interested in developing new and improving existing bicycle, pedestrian, highway, and transit facilities.  The Blue Clay Road corridor is important for bicycle travel for several reasons. First, the road is among the most direct roadway links between the City of Wilmington and the Cape Fear Community College-North Campus. Second, this roadway segment is part of the Ports of Call Route (North Carolina Bicycling Highway 3) and could potentially be nominated as part of the East Coast Greenway between Maine and Florida. Finally, the corridor is identified in Chapter 4 of the Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization 2030 Long Range Transportation Plan as the second of 17 “top” recommended bicycle improvements.