Motorsports
Pedestrian bridge installed ahead of NASCAR All-Star Race weekend at North Wilkesboro Speedway; will improve parking access to racetrack
NASCAR’s All-Star Race is next weekend at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Race fans now have easier and safer access from the parking lot. NCDOT installed a $2 million pedestrian bridge across US-421 ahead of next week’s race.Scott Pipes with NCDOT says the new pedestrian bridge will only be open during racing events.“With large fencing on both […]
NASCAR’s All-Star Race is next weekend at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Race fans now have easier and safer access from the parking lot. NCDOT installed a $2 million pedestrian bridge across US-421 ahead of next week’s race.Scott Pipes with NCDOT says the new pedestrian bridge will only be open during racing events.“With large fencing on both sides, handrails accommodate the pedestrians as they cross, the bridge has curbing and the fence goes down to the bottom, so it deters anything from being knocked over the bridge,” Pipes said. “The concrete deck has been installed and we installed some sod just for safety make sure anybody who steps off the walk path does not slip and fall in the mud or things of that nature. Some landscaping was also done to beautify the area.” Before the pedestrian bridge installation, for years, fans used the Fisher Creek Road bridge.NCDOT says closing it and putting up barriers was time-consuming and wasn’t good for pedestrian crossings because the handrails are lower than standards.Steven Wilson, the co-founder of Save the Speedway, says he’s glad to see this investment in the community.”That pedestrian bridge across US-421 is that capital improvement and it improves safety and flow,” Wilson adds.Wilson says the organization helped reopen the speedway after it shut down in 1996 due to a loss in popularity, being outdated and lacking modern amenities. Since its reopening in 2023, Wilson says he’s hopeful the speedway can continue to grow and thrive.”A lot of it is for the naysayers out there that said that it could never be done,” Wilson said. “We needed to find something else to do. NASCAR is never coming back, nobody’s going to reopen this speedway. So I think it’s vindication for all the years of work that everybody put into this to make this happen.”
NASCAR’s All-Star Race is next weekend at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Race fans now have easier and safer access from the parking lot. NCDOT installed a $2 million pedestrian bridge across US-421 ahead of next week’s race.
Scott Pipes with NCDOT says the new pedestrian bridge will only be open during racing events.
“With large fencing on both sides, handrails accommodate the pedestrians as they cross, the bridge has curbing and the fence goes down to the bottom, so it deters anything from being knocked over the bridge,” Pipes said. “The concrete deck has been installed and we installed some sod just for safety make sure anybody who steps off the walk path does not slip and fall in the mud or things of that nature. Some landscaping was also done to beautify the area.”
Before the pedestrian bridge installation, for years, fans used the Fisher Creek Road bridge.
NCDOT says closing it and putting up barriers was time-consuming and wasn’t good for pedestrian crossings because the handrails are lower than standards.
Steven Wilson, the co-founder of Save the Speedway, says he’s glad to see this investment in the community.
“That pedestrian bridge across US-421 is that capital improvement and it improves safety and flow,” Wilson adds.
Wilson says the organization helped reopen the speedway after it shut down in 1996 due to a loss in popularity, being outdated and lacking modern amenities. Since its reopening in 2023, Wilson says he’s hopeful the speedway can continue to grow and thrive.
“A lot of it is for the naysayers out there that said that it could never be done,” Wilson said. “We needed to find something else to do. NASCAR is never coming back, nobody’s going to reopen this speedway. So I think it’s vindication for all the years of work that everybody put into this to make this happen.”