OUTER BANKS, N.C. — A steady flow of traffic came to and from Hatteras Island on Wednesday, each driver having to use the temporary one-lane gravel road detour near the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center. That's the reality right now as North Carolina Department of Transportation crews work to rebuild a thousand feet of damage to the road.
"I might choose something above Hatteras Island next time, just because of fear. I know it's a lot safer weather-wise up there if things do happen," said Adam Phillips, a visitor stranded on Hatteras Island who was able to leave on the emergency ferry on Tuesday after being in line for more than 40 hours.
News 3 asked Dare County Commissioner Mary Ellon Ballance if she worried that having so many tourists stuck on Hatteras Island for this long would impact tourism there in the future.
"I hope everybody that was discouraged, gives us another chance," said Ballance.
A lot of moving parts made it possible to reopen N.C. 12 on Tuesday after the road sustained a thousand feet of damage from the storm. Now a one-lane temporary detour is set up, but it's also reignited conversations about what the future looks like here.
"There's some stuff in the STIP right now to relocate that road to the other side of the visitor center, and there's some traction on that," said Ballance.
Ballance is talking about the North Carolina State Transportation Improvement Program, which is a major tool in deciding what projects will be funded and approved in areas across the state like ours.
Ballance lives in Hatteras, so N.C. 12 is her lifeline too. Ultimately, like other county leaders News 3 has spoken with, she feels that a bridge is needed in this stretch.
"At the end of the day, we have to have some elevated roads, that water has to be able to flow underneath of it, so that the beach can rebuild. The Etheridge Bridge, that to me is a prime example of how bridges work because we gave the island and the shoreline an opportunity to breathe," said Ballance.
These aren't new conversations, but the recent storm has made them even more important.
"Unfortunately, it takes nor'easters like this to open everybody's eyes," said Ballance.
At the end of the day, our county leaders can push for these needed improvements but are just one piece of the puzzle.
"Counties don't have the ability to build or maintain roadways, it's the responsibility of the state. Our hands are tied. We're just advocates for the people that we serve. The legislature allows us to do the things that we do, and so we're doing all those things, and we're advocating," said Ballance.
But it will take the state and federal government's help to make preserving N.C. 12 a reality.
"We just have to find the funding for it and get everybody on board to say, okay, hey, it's time. It's the responsibility of the federal government, and it's responsibility of the state. It brings in a lot of money, and we need some help and we need to do it," said Ballance.
With traffic flowing on N.C. 12 again Tuesday and Wednesday, the emergency ferry service between Rodanthe and Stumpy Point stopped running Wednesday afternoon. Visitors will be allowed back on Hatteras Island starting at 7 a.m. Thursday.
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