HATTERAS, N.C. — The ferry system is the lifeline for Ocracoke, and almost every visitor and resident uses it to get to and from the island. A new alliance has been formed that wants to help advocate for the investment in the ferry system's future.
"Ocracoke is a ferry-dependent community that is reliant on a one of three ferry systems operated by the state of North Carolina," said Justin LeBlanc, the executive director of the newly formed Ocracoke Access Alliance
LeBlanc has lived on Ocracoke for years.
“My wife and I moved here about 15 years ago, and she runs a local business on the island, the Ocracoke Coffee Company. My day job is actually as a government relations professional," said LeBlanc.
LeBlanc is the executive director of the newly formed Ocracoke Access Alliance. Its mission is to bring another voice to the table about how important investing in the ferry system will be for the future.
“Funding for ferries, operation and maintenance, funding for addressing N.C. 12 hot spots, has real-world impacts for the businesses that can thrive on Ocracoke, and do thrive, but are really dependent upon safe, reliable and efficient access to our island," said LeBlanc.
LeBlanc also puts into perspective just how many people are using the ferry system each year.
“We're only 1,000 residents, but we get close to 500,000 visitors a year. That's who the system is really designed and implemented for. It's not just for us as residents and businesses, it's for that larger community," said LeBlanc.
As far as what that advocacy looks like, it’s all of the above. The alliance wants to work in collaboration with elected leaders, county leaders, state leaders and federal leaders in this mission.
“Asking the governor's administration to seek an increase in the N.C. ferry division budget. We're going to go to the General Assembly and ask them to do the same, but we also want to partner with them and partner with our counties and try to bring other resources to bear. Go to Washington, D.C., and see if we can help facilitate the return of federal dollars to our state and to our region to help support those efforts," said LeBlanc.
At the end of the day, LeBlanc says the ferry system is doing a great job, and there already is a lot of advocacy going on for it in Dare and Hyde Counties. The alliance just wants to help push that to continue for generations into the future.
"We also want to participate in ... some long-term planning, and now we think it's time to have a conversation with stakeholder engagement about a long-term vision for the ferry system in general," LeBlanc said. "Whether they be how we pay for it, whether it be what kind of technologies we bring to bear to make it safer, more reliable and more efficient for folks to be able to continue to get to our island for the next 50 to 100 years, if not longer."
