Updated 11th November 2025 – Construction of the Hampstead Bypass in North Carolina is reaching its final stage after the North Carolina Department of Transportation awarded the final contract valued at $182million contract to S.T. Wooten Corp to build a 7 mile stretch of roadway to connect Pender and New Hanover counties.
The final phase of the roadway project will stretch from N.C. Highway 140 — which diverts traffic around U.S. 17 Business in Wilmington — to N.C. 210, completing the approximately 13-mile bypass. The upcoming work will involve grading, drainage, paving, and the construction of related structures, with construction potentially starting as early as late August, according to the announcement. The entire project is projected to be finished by 2030.
“The Hampstead Bypass remains one of the Department’s highest priorities and is essential for supporting the area’s ongoing growth,” said Division 3 Engineer Trevor Carroll in the statement. “This milestone brings us closer to completing the full bypass.”
Meanwhile, construction on the section running from N.C. 210 to north of Hampstead is expected to wrap up by late 2027. In another major transport infrastructure project by the DOT inthe state, the New Lindsay C. Warren Bridge project is forging ahead. It is a $450million project across the Alligator river.
Reported in january 2022 Following environmental evaluations and design reviews, the project was originally approved in 2014, and is projected to enhance traffic flow into Pender and New Hanover counties. Conti Civil LLC of Edison, New Jersey, was granted a US$185 million contract to build the four-lane, seven-mile roadway back then. The bypass will travel south of N.C. 210 and link to US Highway 17 north of Topsail schools. The northern section of the two-part project is set to open in the fall of 2026.
Construction on the first 5.6-mile leg of the Hampstead Bypass begun in February of 2022 with workmen having removed grass and trees, as well as applying grading, drainage, and asphalt. Traffic signals and retaining walls were also be erected. Following that, upgrades to an existing 1.5-mile route also took place, with the route between Brickyard Road and Holiday Drive. Concurrently, work on the Hoover Road interchange will begin. On weekdays, all lanes will stay available during peak commute periods of 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Contractors will begin work on the North Carolina 210 intersection in February 2023. U.S. 17 will be improved beginning in August 2023.
More on the Hampstead Bypass in North Carolina
“This is a significant milestone and represents a significant improvement in how people will travel in southern North Carolina, particularly between Wilmington and Hampstead.” This bypass will also make a significant impact on the congestion that US 17 is now facing in this rapidly increasing region, according to NCDOT Division 3 engineer Chad Kimes in a news release in 2022. The Hampstead Bypass, which will be 12.6 miles long when finished, has been in the works for the previous 16 years and is scheduled to open in 2030. The highway will begin at a proposed junction with US Highway 17 Wilmington Bypass and continue northwest to Pender County, past Sidbury Road.
