Ocracoke is getting ready for life without a highway
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By IRENE
NOLAN
 For 2 1/2 months this winter, travel on Ocracoke to the north towards Hatteras will be the way it used to be before a highway was built more than 50 years ago. Ocracokers – and visitors – will have to drive on the beach for three of the 13 or so miles to and from the Hatteras Inlet ferry from Jan. 2 until March 15. N.C. 12, Ocracoke’s only highway, will be closed, and traffic will be routed onto the beach from the Pony Pens on the north end of the island to the National Park Service campground closer to the village to allow the state Department of Transportation to replace all seven of the highway bridges over the island’s creeks. The short bridges over the creeks were constructed in the 1950s when the highway was built and need to be upgraded and widened. There have been several meetings in the past year to get community feedback about the options for replacing the bridges and planning for the project. More than 75 people crowded into the Ocracoke Community Center on Wednesday evening, Jan. 26, to go over the extensive planning by DOT, Hyde County, the National Park Service, and community groups and to review the details of the road closure plan. Stan White, who represents Division 1 on the state Board of Transportation, which includes Hyde County, reviewed the considerations that led to the decision to close the highway for 75 days and replace all seven bridges at once during that time.  White told the group that in 2004, the state General Assembly asked the DOT to spend the balance of highway funds available, spread among the 14 districts, under the North Carolina Moving Ahead program. A requirement, White said, was that the project be completed in two years. That meant the project had to be one that did not require a lot of planning and permitting by state and federal agencies, which can take many more years to complete – almost two decades in the case of replacing the Bonner Bridge over Oregon Inlet. Replacing the Ocracoke bridges was a project that needed to be done and fit the time frame. “We thought we had money to replace four of the bridges,” White said at the meeting. Replacing those first four bridges would take eight months and would require one lane of traffic on Highway 12 from the Hatteras Inlet ferry docks to Ocracoke village. The thought of one lane traffic through the height of the tourist season was one that didn’t appeal to many folks. And then there was issue of replacing the remaining three bridges – and more road closures – at a later date. During the planning, White said, the contractor noted that if the road could be closed, all seven of the bridges could be replaced at the same time. After consultation with everyone involved, including the Ocracoke community, a consensus was reached. Close the highway for the winter and get the job done. The contract was awarded to Carolina Bridge Co., Inc., of Orangeburg, S.C., for about $8 million. Then planning started in earnest for closing a highway that islanders and visitors had gotten used to in the last 50 years. Access to Ocracoke though the winter will continue to be available via the ferries to Cedar Island and Swan Quarter on the mainland, and ferries will be added to the usual winter schedule.  Travel to and from Ocracoke from the north via the Hatteras Inlet ferry will require a four-wheel-drive vehicle and driving on the beach. Hyde County interim manager Carl Classen, DOT division operations engineer Jerry Jennings, and Hyde County’s emergency manager Tony Spencer outlined the plans to keep life as close to normal as possible during the road closure. “The logistics of a project of this magnitude are difficult at best,” Classen told the group. Extensive planning has gone into such things as handling medical and fire emergencies, law enforcement, ensuring the safety of the traveling public on the beach, and maintaining the flow of services and supplies – everything from food and gasoline to mail and prescription drugs, to the deliveries of building supplies and deliveries by such companies as UPS and Federal Express. “Any decisions that have been made,” he added, “have been made with the best possible input…but you will not all agree with those decisions.” However, Classen noted, “We are far along with this project and we are moving forward.” Weathering the road closure, the speakers noted, will require work and cooperation among all those involved – the state, the county, the contractor, the National Park Service, community groups, and Ocracoke’s citizens. The amount of thought that has gone into planning for life without a highway is impressive. Planning officials and community members have addressed almost all aspects of day-to-day living during the closure. Some additional questions and concerns came up at the meeting. Several were about the fact that not all Ocracoke residents, especially the older ones, have a four-wheel-drive vehicle. A suggestion was made to have a bulletin board for ride sharing on the beach at the Post Office. Someone else asked if tolls would be waived on the Cedar Island and Swan Quarter ferries for residents, since the boats are the only way off the island without four-wheel-drive. Ferry officials answered there was presently no agreement to waive tolls on the ferry. However, Stan White promised to take the question to DOT officials. Though there are still questions and planners expect that more issues will need to be smoothed out, Ocracoke residents seem comfortable with the decision to close the road for 75 days rather than deal with what could be a couple years of one-lane traffic. “I think everyone will get used to it,” said Eugene Ballance, the Ocracoke representative to the county’s Board of Commissioners. Ocracoke in the winter is a quiet village. Many fewer tourists come to the island. Most businesses close. Many residents take their own vacations.  Ocracokers are also not unfamiliar with closures of Highway 12 to the Hatteras Inlet ferry. It happens for hours or days at a time in storms. And in Hurricane Isabel in 2003, islanders had to cope without traveling north for two months. Not only was Highway 12 on Ocracoke damaged, but the storm cut an inlet between Hatteras village and Frisco that cut off the route north. During that time, most travel to and from the island was via the Cedar Island or Swan Quarter ferries to the mainland, which is also how most supplies arrived. DOT and county officials stressed that they fully expect the project to be completed on time. Staging for the project will begin in early November, so that many of the bridge pilings will be in place before the construction begins. The contractor, they said, has “big incentives” to reopen the road by the March 15 date. Easter, the traditional opening of the tourist season is early next year – the weekend after the scheduled reopening. “Everything has to be completed by March 15,” said Stan White who owns a vacation home on the island. “Or I’ll have to sell my house here.” All that said, it’s a given that life on an isolated island such as Ocracoke depends on the whims of the weather. “All I can tell you,” Classen said, “is that we are doing our best to plan for all the contingencies that we normally plan for on an island.” Commissioner Ballance noted that back-to-back northeasters could erode the beach and play havoc with the beach detour plan. However, if history is any indication, the Ocracokers will rise to the occasion and cope with what Mother Nature throws their way. That’s the way it’s been. It’s the way it will be. And it’s just part of living on the island. NEWS AND UPDATES ON THE INTERNET Regular updates on the progress of the project and other notices and important information will be posted on a Web site, which has been set up by Hyde County and the DOT. It is www.ocracokebridges.com. The site is not operating yet, but will be soon. DETAILS OF THE ROAD CLOSURE PLAN • Traffic will be routed onto the beach from the north via a ramp to be constructed next to the boardwalk to the beach at the Pony Pens and from the south via the ramp at the campground. • DOT will improve beach access at the Pony Pens, where there has been an overwash area, and at the campground ramp where there is a sharp turn and deep sand that can impede access onto the ramp. A grid-type fabric will be laid down to improve traction and accesses will be graded. DOT will work with the National Park Service, which allowed the beach detour, to keep conditions drivable. • Towing services will be provided to assist vehicles stuck on the beach – at the expense of DOT. • Air pumps will be available at the north and south areas of the detour for drivers to use to pump up their tires when coming off the beach. • The DOT public information office, the ferry division, the National Park Service, Hyde County government, and Hyde County Chamber of Commerce will focus on notifying the traveling public about the detour. Variable message signs – those big signs on wheels with a flashing message – will be placed at Whalebone Junction at the northern entrance to Cape Hatteras National Seashore, in Avon, at the Hatteras Inlet, Swan Quarter, and Cedar Island Ferry docks, and at the northern and southern detour accesses on Ocracoke. • The message to travelers will be that the Highway 12 detour on Ocracoke is passable only with four-wheel-drive vehicles. • Ocracoke will be open to visitors during the road closure. Access from Swan Quarter and Cedar Island will not be affected. Visitors will be allowed on the ferry from Hatteras but will be advised they need four-wheel-drive. • The Cedar Island ferry will operate on its usual winter schedule of four departures in each direction. Other ferry schedules will be modified. There will be four – instead of two—ferries to and from Swan Quarter Ferries will depart Swan Quarter at 7 a.m., 9:30 a.m., and 1 and 4 p.m. They will depart Ocracoke at 6:30 a.m., 10 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 4 p.m.. The Hatteras Inlet ferry will leave at 5 a.m. from both sides. After that, it will leave Ocracoke on even hours and Hatteras on odd hours. The last run will be at 9 p.m., except for emergencies or scheduled school events. • Hyde County Emergency Management will assign priority to vehicles needing to travel ahead of the public, such as utility, crucial delivery, emergency, and government vehicles. Also dedicated ferries on certain days will carry propane gas trucks, which limit the number of other vehicles, and garbage trucks, which aren’t always pleasant to travel with. • An extensive plan for continued medical care and medical emergencies has been worked out by the Ocracoke Health Center, Ocracoke, Hyde County, and Dare County Emergency Medical Services, Outer Banks and Pungo District hospitals, and medical transport helicopters. • EMS transport will include two ambulances staged at the Pony Pens and one in the village. Two four-wheel-drive specially outfitted vehicles will be available to transport patients from the campground ramp, along the beach, to the ambulances at the Pony Pens, and then to the Hatteras Inlet ferry. • Medical transport helicopters will be available as usual, which means as the weather permits. • Ocracoke EMS will have two crews available during the 75-day road closure. • Plans have been made for fire emergencies, including a loaner truck from the mainland. • The National Park Service will relay incoming and outgoing mail along the beach detour. • The Park Service also will carry prescriptions from a courier from Hatteras Island to the Ocracoke Health Center for pickup by patients and will pickup outgoing laboratory samples from the health center and deliver them to the courier. • For the safety of the traveling public, the detour along the beach will be regularly patrolled by the Park Service, the county sheriff’s department, and county emergency management. There will be a patrol after the last ferry in the evening to make sure no one is stuck on the beach. A cell phone number to call in emergencies will be posted on both sides of the detour. • Ocracoke School has made arrangements for its basketball games. Home games have been scheduled before the road closure to accommodate the visiting teams. Activity buses will be parked at the Pony Pens for away games and parents and other volunteers will transport the students back and forth along the beach to the buses. HOW OCRACOKE RESIDENTS CAN HELP • Limiting medical and other appointments. And planning ahead for them, scheduling them either before or after the closure. • Limiting other travel • Traveling early for critical appointments • Stocking up on supplies and equipment • Conserving fuel • Limiting trash and garbage • Not sightseeing in the detour area, using it only for necessary travel • Not traveling late at night • Helping their neighbors cope with the travel requirements 
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