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NC 12 to Hatteras Could Reopen to One Lane by Friday Noon
Crews have begun tearing out damaged pavement at Pea Island, but king tides through Thursday could push more water over the road. Visitors are still barred, and the state plans to move a mile of the highway inland.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation says it aims to reopen N.C. 12 at the Pea Island Visitor Center with a one-lane detour, controlled by flaggers or automated signals, by noon Friday, October 30, WAVY reports. Crews have begun rebuilding dunes, removing damaged pavement and grading the roadbed, but standing water and continued overwash are slowing the work, and king tides through Thursday could bring more flooding, according to the Island Free Press. Once the single lane is open, the department plans to add sandbags along the dune line and then pave two full lanes.
Visitors still cannot enter Hatteras Island. Dare County's state of emergency and visitor evacuation remain in effect, entry is limited to its Priority One, Two and Three categories, and the county says no date has been set for visitors to return. Anyone with a reservation should contact their rental company and not travel toward the island. The 24-hour emergency ferry between Stumpy Point and Rodanthe had carried 3,117 people and 1,881 vehicles as of Monday; priority access does not mean priority loading, and those who need it must ask Dare County Emergency Management.
Longer term, the department is drawing up plans to move about a mile of the highway near the visitor center away from the surf, a spokesman said, though the new alignment has not been decided. N.C. 12 is open north of Oregon Inlet and south of Rodanthe through Hatteras Village and on Ocracoke.
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