OUTER BANKS, N.C. — Federal land managers want to hear from people on the Outer Banks, N.C., about a state proposal to move a short piece of N.C. Highway 12 a little farther from the ocean, next to the wildlife refuge visitor center at Pea Island on Hatteras Island.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation filed a preliminary right-of-way request with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Nov. 2. The aim is to make the road less exposed to ocean overwash, which has flooded and damaged the pavement and closed the highway for days at a time.
Back-to-back nor’easters this fall, one in September and one in October, chewed up the pavement and left Hatteras Island without a road link for days, so the state started up its emergency ferry route between Rodanthe and Stumpy Point.
Under the plan, crews would build a new two-lane road next to an existing electric cooperative transmission line, then rip out the old pavement and sandbags. Where the road runs today, crews would raise a new dune roughly 15 feet tall and 45 feet across, then plant it with beach grass. The refuge visitor center, its parking and the North Pond restrooms would be torn down and rebuilt or moved, though a small lot would remain so visitors can still get to the North Pond Wildlife Trail and the refuge ponds.
The work would also mean filling a small amount of wetland and part of the turtle pond behind the current restrooms, and one power pole would move about 15 feet. Because the road crosses federal land, the refuge has to decide whether the project fits its wildlife mission before anything is built.
Separately, state crews have been placing roughly 1,100 sandbags along the damaged section near the visitor center. Once that is done, they plan to pave a second lane so two-way traffic can return.
Federal officials say no final decision has been made. The shift is meant as a stopgap while the state keeps studying longer-term fixes for the Pea Island corridor.
For now, drivers still get through on a single lane, with automated signals taking turns letting traffic pass. The comment window runs through Nov. 24. People can email the refuge office or send a letter to its Manteo post office box, P.O. Box 1969.
Section: More Outer Banks NC crime news
Filed under: Outer Banks NC Traffic News
