41
1816 Mews Drive | Wilmington, NC
910.256.6111
www.landfallrealty.com
Selling from Landfall. For Landfall. Exclusively Landfall.
1705 Bellevue Court
$499,000
2252 Deepwood Drive
$589,900
2105 Graywalsh Drive
$499,000
1314 Landfall Drive
$775,000
www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM
an estimated 1.46 million more cars
were on the road in the year after I-40’s
opening than the year prior. The economic
benefits of the highway were
also under fire, with the Wilmington
Morning Star citing a countywide stagnation
in property values, a modest
sales tax revenue growth of 19 percent
but a 45 percent increase in the room
occupancy tax, equating a nearly flat
growth pattern.
But looking at New Hanover
County before and after I-40, the
bridges across the Cape Fear River or
the development of easily maintained
roads in the early 20th century, shows
a different picture. Before the advancements
in transportation technology,
clusters of homes, farms and businesses
and a few larger towns were the
norm. Easier modes of transportation
allowed residents to spread out a little
more, to fill in the gaps between communities
and begin to settle into new
planned developments like Sunset
Park, Carolina Heights, Silver Lake,
Pine Valley and King’s Grant.
As I-40 was completed, industrial
parks were built along its corridor
on the northern end of the county;
billboards advertising hotels, motels,
restaurants and attractions went up
beside the highway; and the state
port saw an increase in its traffic.
The University of North Carolina
Wilmington grew in prominence as
potential faculty and students discovered
it. As the university grew, so
did the businesses and neighborhoods
around it.
Through the 20th century, New
Hanover County continued to grow,
proving true some predictions of heavy
traffic and increased population due to
I-40. Census data from 1990 put the
county at 120,000 residents and the
most recent Census reveals 195,000
county residents. As the population
increases, so does the burden on the
roadways, but proposed projects like
the Skyway Bridge and the I-140
Bypass promise to ease the congestion
and usher in yet another new era.