Plans also call for the Wilmington bypass of U.S. 17, also known as the Northern Outer Loop, to link with U.S. 17 in Brunswick County. The New Hanover County portion of the highway is funded and construction has begun on part of it, but the Brunswick County section is not on a state list of projects expected to start over the next few years. Pender County will get the N.C. 53 bypass around Burgaw, but it won't happen right away. Design work for the project is expected to be finished in 2005, with construction scheduled to begin in 2008. County planners hope the bypass will alleviate the problems caused by heavy truck traffic through the growing town.
Some plans call for the highway to cut through the county.
The state does plan to add an overpass to U.S. 74-76 at the intersection of N.C. 410.