City council discusses options for future of historic fountain | News

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – The City of Wilmington is considering reducing Market Street to one lane in an effort to save the Kenan Fountain.

At its meeting Wednesday night, city council talked about ideas to prevent cars from crashing into the historic fountain, which is at the corner of Market Street and 5th Avenue.

In the past five years, there have been 75 crashes at the intersection; 20 caused damage to the fountain or benches there. Of that, 10 were drunk drivers.

Council members asked city staffers to look into how much it would cost to reduce traffic to one lane around the fountain as a long-term solution.

In the meantime, more lights are going to be installed around the structure to make it more visible at night.

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