An overall network of highway systems in the area makes Wilmington attractive and easily accessible, both for travelers and industry.
    U.S. Highway 17, long a major artery from New York to Florida, is currently being four-laned from the South Carolina state line north to the Virginia State line. A bypass around Wilmington is also in the works.
    The I-40 expressway provides a direct connection from Wilmington to Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Burlington, and Greensboro, as well as other cities across the state.  In fact, the east-west highway that begins in Wilmington, stretches all the way across the country to Barstow,California.
    U.S. Highway 74 gives access to Charlotte, and U.S. Highway 421 from Boone.

    The New Hanover International Airport is located on 1,500 acres, three miles northeast of Wilmington. The airport is operated by the New Hanover County Airport Authority: 1740 Airport Boulevard, Wilmington, N.C. 28405. Telephone (910) 341-4333; fax (910) 341-4365.
    The airport is open 24 hours a day and the control tower is operated 18 hours a day. Navigation aids include: Automated Radar Tracking System (ARTSII) will State III service; Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range (VOR) with Distance Measuring Equipment (DME).
    The airport's primary instrument runway (17-35) is 7,013 feet long by 150 feet wide and is equipped with an Instrument Landing System (ILS); Medium Intensity Approach Lighting System (MASLR) on primary approach and precision instrument marking; High Intensity Runway Lights with Runway End Identifier Lights and visual Approach Slope Indicator on runway 17. The non-instrument runway (06-24) is 8,015 feet by 200 feet wide and is equipped with High Intensity Runway Lights and REIL's on both ends.  All taxiways are equipped with taxiway edge lighting and lighted taxi guidance signs for night operations.
    A Federal Inspection Station at the airport provides entry, clearance and documentation for foreign flights by U.S. Customs, Department of Agriculture and I.N.S. The facility operates from 11:00am to 7:00pm with one hour advance notice. Other times may be arranged by calling (910)-341-4424 or (910) 341-4616 three hours prior to arrival.
    The National Weather Service maintains a facility at the airport which serves aviation needs by disseminating weather information to the entire region. Weather information available at the airport includes weather radar, teletype, radio and telephone.
    Three full service Fixed Base Operators provide a complete range of aeronautical services, including hangar storage, tie downs, aircraft sales and service, fuel sales (100/LL AVGAS and jet A), flight instruction, aircraft charter and rentals, and major and minor airframe and engine repairs.
      The airport provides a full time, professional Public Safety Office staffed by fully trained and certified law enforcement officers, firefighters and medical technicians utilizing state of the art equipment to provide efficient security and aircraft rescue/firefighting protection.

    The Wilmington area is served by CSX Transportation, a major freight line that provides freight transportation to twenty states, the District of Columbia and Ontario, Canada. From Wilmington, several spurs serve Wilmington area customer in Castle Hayne, Coastal, Hanover and Malmo. Freight destined to and from these customers is shipped west to yards at Pembroke and Hamlet, N.C., for daily distribution to shippers and receivers all across the United States on CSXT's fast north-south mainline trains.
    Whiteville, Chadbourn and Myrtle Beach are served by Mid-Atlantic and Waccamaw Coastline shortline railroads. Local service to customers in all these areas is performed by local trains and/or switch engine assignments. Major customers include the North Carolina State Ports Authority in Wilmington.
    Just west of Wilmington, CSXT operates Davis classification yard, which meets the continuing and increasing needs of Wilmington and this area.

    Local bus service is provided by Wave Transit on six fixed routes throughout the City (7 days a week, 5:45a.m.-8:00 p.m.); three shuttles; a free downtown trolley, and through the Seahawk Shuttle services.  Wave Transit also provides paratransit service for disabled individuals and has a taxi voucher program in place for visually impaired citizens.
    Greyhound is the one inter-city bus line that operates daily, involving several departures. Arrival schedules are posted daily or call (910) 762-6625. Several taxicab companies provide service to the Greater Wilmington Area (see Business Directory for Chamber member companies).

    Maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington Harbor is served by 36 miles of navigation channels, two turning basins and one anchorage basin used for turning the largest ship in the harbor. The entrance channel, 44 feet deep and 500 feet wide, crosses the ocean bar and continues to deep water at Southport. From there to the upper end of the anchorage basin at the foot of Castle Street, the navigation channel is 42 feet deep and 400 feet wide. From Castle Street to the Hilton Bridge over the Northeast Cape Fear River, the channel is 38 feet deep and 400 feet wide. From Castle Street to the Hilton Bridge over the Northeast Cape Fear River, the channel is 38 feet deep and 400 feet wide with increased widths at bends. The remainder of the harbor's channel is 25 feet deep by 200 feet wide and extends 1.7 miles up the Northeast Cape Fear River.
    Opposite the State Ports is an anchorage/turning basin 42 feet deep, 1200 feet by 1200 feet. In addition, a 111-mile-long channel links the deep water port of Wilmington with Fayetteville. The depth of that channel which accommodates barges and smaller vessels varies from 25 feet, 12 feet and 8 feet. 
     Another component of harbor improvements is the construction of a 6.2-mile-long by 600-foot-wide passing lane near the mid-point of the navigation channel between the Atlantic Ocean and the N.C. State Ports Authority terminal. This project would also include widening 5 of the turns along the harbor channel.
    Additional features of the plan, as described in the June 1996 Feasibility Report are: no improvements up to 750 feet above the Hilton Railroad Bridge; then deepening the existing channel from 25 to 34 feet to the Arcadian corporation, approximately 2 miles. The plan also includes extending the length of the anchorage basin and widening the turning basin across from the Arcadian Corporation.