Bolstered by recent funding, environmental studies are continuing to move ahead on the Cape Fear Crossing project.

A draft environmental impact study is anticipated for September with corridor public hearings in the fall, according to Mike Kozlosky, executive director of the Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (WMPO).

The WMPO board recently allocated $750,000 to keep the Cape Fear Crossing project moving forward.

At the group’s May board meeting, these remaining funds were allocated, as requested by the N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT), to keep studies going to determine the Least Environmentally Damaging Practicable Alternative for the Cape Fear Crossing route, Kozlosky said.

The Cape Fear Crossing proposal includes a new crossing over the Cape Fear River, as well as improvements, upgrades or new roadways to improve traffic flow between New Hanover and Brunswick counties and to enhance freight movements to and from the Port of Wilmington.

The project has been under study for several years. In December, the project's merger team eliminated half of the 12 proposed routes for the crossing, including two that took it into Wilmington’s historic district.

Kozlosky said the board’s action in May was important “because the state has a policy that if it’s not funded through the prioritization process, the state does not work on the environmental document or the planning and design."