Why the Arboretum Gate Line Keeps Growing, and What Landfall Is Testing Through December

Over the last ten years, Landfall added about 14 percent more homes, and resident trips through its gates rose about 15 percent. In the same period, weekly entries by guests, vendors and contractors rose about 66 percent, from 12,918 vehicles to 21,402. Those figures come from Landfall COA Board Chairman Gary Caison in the October–November 2026 issue of The Landfall Voice, which he devoted entirely to gate traffic.

That gap explains the backup at Arboretum Drive. Residents are arriving at roughly the pace the community has grown. Visitors are the part that has outrun the gates, and most of the fixes the COA is trying this fall depend on how residents bring their visitors in.

A Community That Grew Faster Through the Gate Than on the Map

The home count went from 1,718 in 2016 to 1,949 in 2026. Weekly resident entries went from 25,552 to 29,262, which tracks with that growth almost exactly.

Guest and contractor traffic tells a different story. In 2016, each home generated about 7.5 visitor entries a week. In 2026, the figure is about 11. Some of that is construction. The COA's September 2026 count shows 45 homes under construction, and the community reported 85 home sales and 8 lot sales, each of which brings movers, inspectors and tradespeople. Some of it comes from outside the gates. Caison points to new businesses and housing along Military Cutoff Road and to the opening of the Interstate 140 extension. That extension, the Military Cutoff Road connector from Market Street to I-140, opened to drivers on September 28, 2023, according to WECT, after construction that began in 2017 and cost more than $95 million.

Half the Visitors, the Shortest Runway

The COA's average weekly counts by gate:

The Arboretum gate takes in nearly half of all visitor traffic into Landfall, which works out to more than 1,500 guest and contractor vehicles a day. It also has the least room to hold them. In her column in the same issue, COA Chief Administrative Officer Roxanne Powell describes the problem as high volume combined with "an inadequate vehicle staging area." Because of that, even a small delay verifying one driver can back cars up onto Military Cutoff.

The backup now gets attention outside the gates too. Caison wrote that Wilmington Police and city officials have noticed the backups on Military Cutoff Road, that they are sympathetic, and that they are monitoring the situation:

"...and may likely get more involved unless we make improvements in this area."

He called gate access and security "the highest priority issue facing the community today."

What the COA Is Testing Before the New Year

Because the problem is visitor volume at one short entrance, the COA's plan focuses on moving visitors elsewhere and getting them through faster. Here is what is under way this fall:

• A 90-day test at all three gates, running through December. It evaluates a systems change the COA expects to shorten the average entry time per vehicle. When this post publishes, about ten weeks of the test remain.
• Expedited entry for contractor fleets. The COA asked 50 contractor companies to submit vehicle and driver security information so their trucks can be expedited. So far, 15 have done so, covering more than 230 vehicles, and staff are working on the other 35.
• Steering contractors to Drysdale. Gate staff hand out flyers asking contractors and vendors to use the Drysdale gate, which has a longer runway and can hold more vehicles. The results of the December test will help decide whether Drysdale becomes Landfall's long-term "designated contractor entrance." If it does, the COA plans to staff it around the clock when the time is right.
• Moving the Arboretum gate is off the table for now. The COA studied pulling the gatehouse farther back from Military Cutoff to add stacking room. Given the costs, the impacts and the small gain, it has tabled the idea for the near future.
• Event coordination with the club. The COA is working with Country Club of Landfall staff on how to handle large events.

Software is the one piece with no firm date. Gate access is due to move to NorthStar Technologies, and Powell says new features in that transition may help security officers authorize guests. The spring issue of The Voice expected a NorthStar rollout in early May. The fall issue still calls the gate-access move "upcoming."

The Part That Runs Through Your Phone

Most of these measures are aimed at contractor fleets. Personal guests are the share residents control directly, and the timing matters because the test runs straight through the holidays. Landfall Security's fall notice says the season brings a large wave of guests, and it is specific about how to keep them from stalling at the gate:

1. Register every visitor in advance. That includes personal guests, service providers, and Uber and food delivery drivers. Use the GateAccess.net app or call (910) 256-5311. Guests who are not pre-authorized are turned away and asked to come back once arrangements are made.
2. Text a QR code instead of just adding a name. Security calls it the fastest way through any gate, and Powell's column makes the same request.
3. Check who is allowed to authorize. Only residents and family members 16 or older can authorize guests. After midnight, the authorization has to come from someone 21 or older.
4. Plan large parties a month out. For a gathering of more than 25 outside guests, Security needs an emailed spreadsheet of names 30 days ahead, sent to [email protected], unless you enter every guest in the app yourself.
5. Send guests to Drysdale with the hours. If the Arboretum line is long, guests can continue about 1.2 miles to Drysdale Drive and enter there. That gate closes at 6:00 p.m. to vehicles without a barcode, and trying to get through without one can damage the car or the gate arm. Pedestrians and cyclists may not use unmanned gates.

Contractors are part of this as well. Powell asks owners to direct their own tradespeople to the Drysdale gate and to pre-authorize them. Arboretum carries about 1,500 visitor cars a day, so a few dozen households switching their painter's or landscaper's route can make a noticeable difference in the morning line. The rules above are community guidelines published by Landfall Security. This post is general information, so confirm anything specific to your household or event with Security directly.

Why the Gate Is the Lever for Years, Not Months

Many residents expect the state's planned "flyover" at Eastwood Road and Military Cutoff to fix this. On NCDOT's schedule, it won't arrive soon. The project, U-5710, would replace the intersection with a grade-separated quadrant design at an estimated cost of $81.4 million. Right-of-way purchases are complete and utility relocation is under way. NCDOT projects construction to start in fall or winter 2027 and finish in fall or winter 2031, and it notes those dates may change. Port City Daily reported in August 2026 that NCDOT had already spent about $19.9 million on the project and still expected construction to start in 2027.

The project is also hard to stop. The same Port City Daily report notes that the state budget passed July 2 lets the state recover its preliminary costs from local governments that vote to remove a statewide-tier project. WMPO Executive Director Mike Kozlosky told his board that the Military Cutoff and Eastwood interchange was funded at that tier. WECT reported in June that Wilmington City Council passed a resolution urging NCDOT to consider traffic impacts and that Mayor Bill Saffo said, "This is going to have major impacts." NCDOT told WECT that, after public meetings in 2015, 2017 and 2018, it does not plan to hold another. Construction would also overlap with the Wrightsville Beach bridge replacements about a mile and a half away.

Meanwhile, Eastwood gate traffic has dropped by about 4,000 vehicles a week since June 2024, and the COA expects it to keep falling. Caison expects traffic around Landfall to keep growing over the coming years, and the interchange is at least five years from finished. Until then, the Arboretum line depends on the December test results, the 35 contractor companies that haven't sent their data, and how many residents text a QR code before guests arrive.

For more on how Landfall's associations and amenities fit together, see our Landfall neighborhood guide and our look at Landfall's 26 homeowner associations.

Which gate a home sits closest to shapes its daily routine, whether the owner is planning a holiday party or comparing one entrance to another before a purchase. If you would like to talk through how the Arboretum, Drysdale or Eastwood side of the community fits your plans, Nick Phillips Group is glad to help. Let's Connect.