Landfall's Gates Sit Between Two Road Projects. The Drawbridge Is the Smaller One.

The Heide Trask Drawbridge is about to open "only on the hour," and for most daytime drives from Landfall to the beach, that changes very little this winter. During the hours most people drive Eastwood Road toward the island, pleasure boats already get only hourly openings. What the bridge work changes first is the commercial traffic on the waterway and one small bridge on the island side. The change that will rework how cars get in and out around Landfall's gates comes later and closer to home. It's the $81.4 million overpass at Eastwood and Military Cutoff, and its design sends left turns onto Drysdale Drive, the road with one of Landfall's three entrances.

The drawbridge schedule drivers already live with

The Coast Guard's proposed rule, published August 27, 2026, lays out the bridge's current rules. Commercial vessels can get an opening on signal at any hour. Pleasure boats get on-signal openings except from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., when the bridge only has to open on the hour.

NCDOT owns the bridge, and it asked that the span open only on the hour for all vessels while the three Wrightsville Beach bridges are replaced. The stated goal is easing car congestion while lanes are reduced nearby.

The overnight row is unsettled because the document is unsettled. Its discussion section says the bridge would open on the hour for all vessels around the clock. The draft regulation at the end of the same document limits hourly-only openings to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and asks commercial work boats to use the hourly slots or the overnight window when they can.

As of late October, the federal docket, USCG-2026-0758, held only the proposed rule. Comments closed September 28, 2026. No final rule had been posted, even though the proposal named November 1 as its start date.

So for a Landfall driver headed to the beach at 10 a.m. or 4 p.m., the rhythm should feel familiar. The daytime change, if it's adopted as written, mostly ends on-signal openings for commercial boats.

What actually closes on the island side first

The disruption that does come this winter sits past the drawbridge. Port City Daily reported on October 2 that Balfour Beatty was awarded about $8.7 million for phase one. That phase starts with relocating a waterline, which NCDOT said would begin in October without naming an exact date. Port City Daily put the waterline work at four to eight weeks, with equipment on Pelican Drive and the shoulder of West Salisbury Street and no expected traffic impact.

Once that's done, the West Salisbury Street bridge over Lees Cut closes fully so it can be rebuilt. The larger Salisbury bridge over Banks Channel follows in summer 2027, then the Causeway Drive bridge. All three replacements together cost $105 million.

WECT reported on October 1 that NCDOT had not yet announced the closure date for the Lees Cut bridge. In a separate October 2 story, WECT said the hourly drawbridge openings would begin once active construction starts. Town and state officials also committed to keeping at least two travel lanes open in each direction for the whole multiyear project. The same story said access to The Loop will be restricted during the Lees Cut work, with dates to come from the town.

The new spans won't add car lanes. Each will carry a 10-to-12-foot multi-use path and a 6-foot bike lane. For anyone in Landfall who bikes or runs toward the island, that's the lasting change, more than the drawbridge clock.

The project that reaches Landfall's own entrances

The overpass at Eastwood Road and Military Cutoff Road, NCDOT project U-5710, is where Landfall's daily routes actually change. According to WECT's September 23 report, the design carries Eastwood Road about 30 feet up and over Military Cutoff and moves left turns to secondary connectors such as Drysdale Drive. NCDOT says the intersection carries about 75,000 vehicles a day and is projected to handle 100,000 by 2040.

Drysdale is one of Landfall's three access points. The Landfall Council of Associations rules list them as the Eastwood, Arboretum and Drysdale gates. The August–September 2026 issue of Landfall's Voice newsletter says the Drysdale Drive gate is unmanned from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. every day, with no bicycle or pedestrian access during those hours. It directs people to the Eastwood or Arboretum entrances, which are staffed around the clock.

That gate sits on the road that will take over much of the turning traffic from a 75,000-car intersection.

The project's property work also lands on Landfall's edge. NCDOT filed at least 27 eminent domain cases and deposited about $5.83 million in New Hanover County Superior Court. Those deposits are the state's appraised value for the property rights, not final settlements. The largest single deposits WECT listed:

• CC Landfall, 1331 Military Cutoff Road: $1.55 million
• Progress Point One-A, 1712 Eastwood Road: $703,700
• First Bank, 1701 Eastwood Road: $586,625
• 1301 Military Cutoff Road: $578,725
• CC Landfall, 1720 Drysdale Drive/1319 Military Cutoff Road: $332,475

Most of the filings cover rights-of-way, temporary construction easements, slope easements and utility or drainage easements. Some also limit direct access to the new lanes and ramps. NCDOT told WECT that property acquisition is complete and no buildings are expected to be demolished.

Where the two timelines meet

Construction on the overpass is set to begin in late 2027 and run through late 2031. The NCDOT project page lists utility relocations as in progress but gives no dated schedule. By late 2027 the bridge project should be well into its second phase, since the Banks Channel bridge on West Salisbury is slated to start in summer 2027.

That overlap has come up at public meetings. In WECT's April 2025 coverage, critics in the Landfall area argued the flyover could push congestion to the next intersection. A Wrightsville Beach business leader warned that Eastwood construction could send traffic onto Wrightsville Avenue, a two-lane road, and then to the drawbridge. In WECT's June 2026 report, a neighbor described Eastwood as the main route to Wrightsville Beach and said traffic would have nowhere to divert during the work. Another neighbor proposed his own alternative, which is not an NCDOT plan. It included limited northbound widening of Military Cutoff at Drysdale Drive, and he estimated it could cut one Military Cutoff wait from 93 seconds to 28.

The finish line is moving too. In an August 14 report, WilmingtonBiz said NCDOT was targeting spring 2030 for the bridge work, while NCDOT's own project page still lists completion as 2030–32. If the earlier date holds, the bridges would finish about a year before the overpass. If it slips, both projects stay under construction for most of the same years.

Dates on the near calendar

1. Monday, November 9: The Wrightsville Beach Bridge Replacement Committee's next meeting, at the Wrightsville Beach Public Safety Building Conference Room. Expect updates on the Lees Cut closure and The Loop here.
2. November 27–28 and December 1–21: Enchanted Airlie at Airlie Gardens, with timed entry from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tickets must be bought in advance.
3. Monday, December 7, 3 to 7 p.m.: The Landfall Foundation Holiday Marketplace at the Country Club of Landfall Nicklaus Clubhouse, 800 Sun Runner Place.

NCDOT posts bridge updates on its Wrightsville Beach bridge replacement page, and the Coast Guard docket is where a final drawbridge rule would show up.

Wondering how the Drysdale Drive changes or the overlapping construction years might affect a Landfall home you plan to sell or buy before 2031? Logan Sullivan Real Estate Group follows both projects closely and can walk you through the timeline for your part of the community. Let's Connect.