While a parkway was on its way to easing Market Street traffic in the 1990s, plans for another loop north of Wilmington were also taking shape.
According to an article in the March 15, 1995, Wilmington Morning Star, the state finished a study on two routes for a highway connecting Interstate 40 and U.S. 421. The road would be a portion of the proposed U.S. 17 Wilmington bypass called the Northern Outer Loop.
Named the northern and southern alternative, costs for each were similar at around $101 million. The northern would be longer at 9.4 miles while the southern would displace more homes (58) and businesses (20) by cutting through the Wrightsboro area…