HAMPSTEAD, N.C. (WECT) – Fred Eike, a business owner in Hampstead, worries that a proposed solution to Hampstead’s traffic problem won’t actually fix the problem.
“They’re trying to play catch-up, but I think population’s exceeding catch-up,” Eike said.
This week, the North Carolina Department of Transportation announced it had awarded a contract to start construction on the final segment of the new Hampstead Bypass.
The route will give drivers another option to travel through Pender County away from U.S. 17.
Eike’s business, Hampstead Mulch and Stone, is on the side of U.S. 17. From his front window, he can see the road and all the traffic backups that happen there on a near-daily basis.
“No one likes to be stuck in traffic,” Eike said. “They want to go. Everybody’s got a place to be, everybody’s in a rush.”
Eike lives three miles from his shop, but on days when the traffic is really bad, he says it could take him an hour to get home.
That commute is why he says he was excited to hear about the Hampstead Bypass originally. He does believe it will help at least part of the problem.
“Once that bypass does finally finish, you’ll have a lot of this through traffic being diverted,” Eike said. “I think it’s going to help tremendously.”
However, he doesn’t think the bypass will completely solve the problem. He believes overdevelopment and population growth are the roots of the issue.
“They’re talking about some major stores coming in up here,” Eike said. “That’s going to have a big impact. I think if they put a limit on certain things being built here, they would help out the locals, but there’s a lot of money involved, and you know how that goes. They’re not going to stay ahead of it. There’s no way they can stay ahead of it. They’re going to play catch-up this whole time.”
NCDOT Engineer Brad Haste also referenced the tremendous growth the Pender County area has seen over the years when talking about the project. He believes that’s why it’s more important now than ever to get this project underway.
“Anybody that’s traveled that corridor is aware of the congestion and the amount of traffic out there,” Haste said. “This is a project that’s been needed for some time, and we’re to that point now where we’re able to get started on it. It’ll be nice to be able to bypass Hampstead to get to Wilmington or to get to Myrtle Beach.”
NCDOT has been working north of NC-210 on the bypass since 2022. Haste said they will likely start construction south of NC-210 on this final segment sometime in the fall. Once completed, the route south of NC-210 will stretch seven miles.
The cost of this final contract is $182 million. The estimated cost for the entire project is $490 million, which has already been paid for by state funding.
NCDOT estimates the entire project will be completed in 2030.
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