Wilkinson Blvd Bridge Replacement and Intersection at E Catawba St

Sloan's Ferry Bridge

This bridge was first built in 1911 and made with reinforced concrete. The current Sloan’s Ferry Bridge was built in 1933, and is made of concrete and steel. It was erected as a memorial to the Gaston and Mecklenburg County soldiers who fought in the World War (1917-1918). Originally, it was built as a two-lane bridge with shoulders for pedestrians and temporary parking, but it was widened to four-lanes in the 1950s.

As vehicular traffic in our region continues to rise, this bridge has now been determined to be functionally obsolete and in need of replacement.

Wilkinson Blvd/ East Catawba St Intersection

This intersection was identified by the City and NCDOT for improvements to address the growing traffic demand.

In 2016, the developer of Aberfoyle Village completed a Technical Memorandum that provided data to confirm that a right turn lane and queuing was needed from E Catawba Street onto Wilkinson Blvd. Since there was already an NCDOT project already identified, the developer contributed $75,000 to ensure that this mitigation would be included within NCDOT's design, and to help expedite the timing of improvements.

Current Status

Preliminary engineering and design is now underway. Both projects listed below will be designed and released for construction at the same time- which is anticipated in late 2023.

BR-0020: Bridge 350091 on US29&74 over Catawba River
- Add an additional lane in both directions, include 10' multi-use path both sides
U-6143: US-74 (Wilkinson Blvd) and NC-7 (E Catawba St) Intersection
- Construct northbound right-turn lane on NC-7 and extend existing westbound left-turn lane on US-74