In this E-dition:
March 18, 2010

- The Lake Park Blvd "Road Diet"
- The smallest house on Pleasure Island (revisited)
- Exciting Business news
- Not-so-exciting Business news
- This weekend on the Peninsula

Slower, safer traffic is the goal
Lake Park Blvd in Carolina Beach is about to get a significant makeover. The top layer of old asphalt has been ground off in preparation for a new smooth surface, but the big change will be the traffic pattern. Currently the road has four lanes of traffic (two in each direction) from the bridge all the way to Squigley's Ice Cream Shop (Fayetteville Ave).

As of next week there will only be two lanes of traffic (one in each direction) heading south from Carl Winner Ave. There will be a center turn lane as well. This diagram shows how it will change, except for the fact that downtown CB will still have its angle-in parking.

This is all a part of the master plan (remember the master plan?) although slightly different. The original plan called for using parallel parking to allow for wider sidewalks and bike lanes, but the town leaders decided that giving up parking spaces was not a good idea.

The concept of a "road diet" is not new. The goal is to slow traffic down just a bit to make for safer, pedestrian/bike friendly streets. The lady in this video explains the concept better than I can:

The smallest house on Pleasure Island (revisited)
 What a response I got about the smallest house on the island! I heard from many people who were dying to know what that was.

Well, here's more: I even got an email from the house manufacturer. (I have no idea how they found out about the E-zine.) It turns out that these round houses are made off-site and are very weather resistant and energy efficient.

This particular house is 300sf (their smallest model) You can visit their website to check out their other models.

www.deltechomes.com

This weekend on the Cape Fear Peninsula
There's really not a whole lot going on this weekend, but I'll try.

Friday, March 19 – Divine Wines' weekly free wine tasting from 4-7pm. I love ending my week that way.

I'm pretty sure that there's a surf cinema movie at the Surfhouse, but....you'd better check with them.
Try their Facebook page.

Saturday, March 20 – The Kure Memorial Lutheran Preschool is having a major kids consignment sale. You can find clothing (for 12 and under), toys, books, nursery items and baby gear. Check it out to save some money on stuff you need. 8am - 12pm. Cash only please.

Matt Piccinin, owner of the Shuckin' Shack, bought a house with his honey (sorry girls) and he's moving in. If you're a glutton for punishment you can help. (I told you there wasn't much going on this weekend.)

Picture of the week
Are you already a little nostalgic for the Great Winter of 2009/10? Me neither. But Herb Harriss sent me this photo of his dock and I couldn't help but recall how nice it was to get a day of snow. (We deserve it for putting up with such a cold winter.)

If you really want to wax poetic about the snow, check out this pictures on CarolinaBeachToday.com



Bonus
In honor of the late Peter Graves, who played Captain Clarence Oever in the 2nd greatest movie ever made.
There's no doubt that this could cause issues on super-busy days, but I suppose there's only one way to truly find out if it will improve the business district. I speak from experience when I say that riding a bike on Lake Park Blvd was unwelcoming, confusing and dangerous - so there's certainly room for improvement there.

Here are the two most common questions that I've been asked:

1)Is this permanent or just a trial run? It's just paint on pavement, so it could be changed if it were an absolute disaster, but I've been told that the NC Department of Transportation is committed to this design and opposed to the old layout which doesn't meet their current design standards. My advice is to get used to it.

2) How much are we paying for this? The repaving and striping is part of general street maintenance which is paid for by the state.

Finally, here's one last link to learn more about road diets.

Exciting business news
After many years planning, Carolina Beach Animal Hospital is renovating the old kayak shop behind by the CB Post Office. They'll expand the best hospital in New Hanover County - I'd rather have Dr. Ked Cottrell take care of me than any person doctor I know - and also offer boarding. (Maybe even doggie day-care.)

We also have a new pet shop and animal groomer - the Island Pet Shop in Pleasure Island Plaza.

A Thai restaurant is opening at the Beach Dogs location! That's all I know so far, but I'll look into it for you.

Not-so-exciting business news
Oh well, I guess not every new business can be the Surfhouse. Did you check out the nice article about them in the Star-News? With that being said, here's a run down of some new businesses opening this summer:

The Sterling Craft Mall (the big blue building on Cape Fear Blvd) will become a beach shop.

Two (count-em two!) new internet sweepstakes parlors will open on the Boardwalk. That brings the island total to four counting the one next to Food Lion and the one across from Town Hall. I've just never really understood the allure of gambling and internet gambling I really don't get. If I wanted to throw my money away I'd do something much more exciting - like start a magazine.