Fixing Wilmington's Pedestrian Safety Gap episode artwork

EPISODE · Feb 18, 2026 · 8 MIN

Fixing Wilmington's Pedestrian Safety Gap

from Shoresides · host Rend Smith

Recently, the Wilmington StarNews and Cape Fear Collective dug into Wilmington, N.C.’s life-expectancy gap. It turns out there are similar disparities regarding the city’s pedestrians. “Wilmington consistently has one of the highest annual pedestrian crash rates in NC. From 2011–2020,” says the 2023 Walk Wilmington Pedestrian Plan. The majority of crashes involving pedestrians occurred in areas with higher concentrations of minority residents and higher poverty rates compared to the county average.”  Abby Lorenzo of the Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization and Justin Carter, assistant director of engineering for the City of Wilmington, explain what’s called the “pedestrian high injury network" and what’s being done about it. Learn about this work and about the Coastal Journalism Hub at www.coastaljournalism.orgSend us Fan MailSupport the showwww.shoresides.org 

Recently, the Wilmington StarNews and Cape Fear Collective dug into Wilmington, N.C.’s life-expectancy gap. It turns out there are similar disparities regarding the city’s pedestrians. “Wilmington consistently has one of the highest annual pedestrian crash rates in NC. From 2011–2020,” says the 2023 Walk Wilmington Pedestrian Plan. The majority of crashes involving pedestrians occurred in areas with higher concentrations of minority residents and higher poverty rates compared to the coun...

NOW PLAYING

Fixing Wilmington's Pedestrian Safety Gap

0:00 8:49

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

Somewhere & Elsewhere Shoresides Somewhere & Elsewhere uncovers stories from artists across the coastal Carolina region. Storm Stories of North Carolina Shoresides Storm Stories of North Carolina is a collection of stories from Hurricane Florence. This podcast and radio series explores resilience and recovery in the coastal region through local stories. Broadcasting from the Narrative Arts' studio in coastal North Carolina the series tells real people stories. She Rocks Teen Radio Shoresides In this podcast, young people in coastal North Carolina explore pressing regional issues and showcase youth leadership, skills and civic values. Produced by Working Narratives and GRITS. Speak Your Piece Shoresides Shoresides accepts opinion essays on a range of topics for our “Speak Your Piece” series which is published as text online or aired as audio as part of our podcast. We’re particularly interested in essays that share ideas or issues from the coastal region from perspectives not often heard in our traditional media. Written essays typically run from 400 to 1,200 words and audio essays from 3-4 minutes, but drafts of any length will be considered. We will arrange recording for audio editions.Submission guidelines: Please share one sentence at the top of your submission that tells us who you are and how your opion essay is connected to the coastal region. Also, be sure to include annotations for all assertions and attributions made in your essay. All submissions must be original, exclusive to Shoresides. Contact us at [email protected]

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Shoresides?

This episode is 8 minutes long.

When was this Shoresides episode published?

This episode was published on February 18, 2026.

What is this episode about?

Recently, the Wilmington StarNews and Cape Fear Collective dug into Wilmington, N.C.’s life-expectancy gap. It turns out there are similar disparities regarding the city’s pedestrians. “Wilmington consistently has one of the highest annual...

Can I download this Shoresides episode?

Yes, you can download this episode by clicking the download button on the episode player, or subscribe to the podcast in your preferred podcast app for automatic downloads.
URL copied to clipboard!