 UPDATE: DOT
pushes back a decision on the permanent fixes to Highway 12
While
road engineers are still considering whether a proposed 7-mile bridge
bypassing a breached area in Pea Island National Wildlife is feasible,
the anticipated decision on permanent fixes to hurricane-damaged
Highway 12 has been pushed back weeks into February or later.
But the state Department of Transportation said the project remains on
track. “We’re moving forward as efficiently as possible,” Dara Demi, a
NCDOT spokeswoman, said Wednesday. Read
more
Beach nourishment
off the table for long-term Highway 12 fix
Beach
nourishment has been essentially taken off the table as a permanent fix
at two temporary repairs on the northern end of Highway 12 on Hatteras
Island. But a dramatically different alternative that materialized out
of the blue is now being considered. Read
more
NCDOT presents options for long-term Highway 12 repair to the public
With
seven weeks of isolation barely behind them, northern Hatteras Island
residents were anxious to learn more about options to permanently fix
two areas of Highway 12 that were torn apart during Hurricane
Irene.
Local preferences on how to address storm
breached spots in Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge and Mirlo Beach
in northern Rodanthe will be taken into consideration, but ultimately
the chosen long-term solution will be mostly dictated by constraints in
coastal conditions and regulations. Read
more
|
 Hurricane victims still seek
answers at community meeting
Victims
of Hurricane Irene filled the Rodanthe Community Center Monday night,
Jan. 30, for a disaster recovery meeting as many families and
businesses in the northern Hatteras Island villages struggle through
the rebuilding process. Even five months after Hurricane Irene
decimated several areas north of Buxton, there are still people who
have not started to rebuild and others whose recovery efforts have
stalled, caught in a quagmire of red tape, paperwork, and
misinformation.
The
newly formed Dare County Long-Term Recovery Team brought together
several local experts and organizational heads at the Monday meeting to
answer questions from the islanders who are trying to put their lives
back together after the storm. Read
more
|
 Shoaling
in Hatteras ferry channel continuing to cause problems
For
the last few weeks, ferry traffic in the channel has been limited to
only smaller, lighter vessels and has been forced to slow way down at
one section. “It’s closing up,” said Dare County Board of Commissioners
Vice-Chairman Allen Burrus, a native of Hatteras. “It’s the most dry
land I’ve seen in the inlet in my lifetime.”
The
shoaling is a challenge to ferry captains and crews and has caused
delays for travelers. Read
more
|
 Problems
continue to plague Hyde County’s two ABC stores, including Ocracoke
Liquor
deliveries to Hyde County have been halted by the state, the second
time in less than two years that unpaid bills have threatened to dry up
the county’s booze supply at its only two stores – one on the mainland
and another on Ocracoke.
“Things
look bleak, in my opinion, for this system to remain open,” Michael
Herring, chief administrator for the state ABC Commission, said Friday.
“Somebody has to come to their rescue, and I don’t know who that is
going to be this time.”
Meanwhile,
current Hyde County ABC Board Chairman Keith Parker-Lowe angrily
denounced the state ABC Commission and defended the progress being made
in the Hyde ABC system. Read
more
|
 Ocracokers
turn out in force to oppose increase in ferry tolls
Ocracokers
are feeling like the critters in the carnival game “Whack-a-Mole” as
they grapple with the looming increase in ferry tolls on the Swan
Quarter and Cedar Island ferries mandated by the state legislature last
summer. Residents feel that it’s just one more thing this
tiny
island is getting whacked with.
More than 180 islanders attended a public meeting sponsored by the
North Carolina Department of Transportation Ferry Division in the
Ocracoke School Gym on Wednesday night, Jan. 17, to hear Paul Morris,
deputy transit director, explain how the agency developed its ferry
toll increase scenarios and to seek input. Read
more
|
 Lane
closures start Jan. 18 at Pea Island Inlet Bridge
The
North Carolina Department of Transportation will begin temporary lane
closures tomorrow -- Wednesday, Jan. 18 -- at 7 a.m., near the
temporary bridge on Highway 12 at Pea Island Inlet as crews install
protective measures to prevent erosion near the south end of the
bridge. Read
more
|
 Pamlico
Sound ferry routes will have fewer runs in winter months
The
North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division announces
it will have fewer departures at its Cedar Island-Ocracoke route from
Dec. 28 through Feb. 29, 2012. The decision to offer fewer runs is
based on traffic data from previous years and is intended as a cost
savings measure. Read
more
|
 HURRICANE IRENE SURVEY
Hurricane Irene survey, Part 4: Visitors were unhappy with
Dare’s re-entry policy
The
fourth part of our report on The Island Free Press Survey:
Hurricane Irene Response focuses on visitors to Hatteras and Ocracoke.
Some 623 of them took the time to fill out the survey and to send us
their comments – 39 pages of their comments can be read by clicking on
the link at the end of this report.
And many of them were frustrated and angry about Dare County’s decision
on visitor re-entry. Read
more
Hurricane
Irene survey, Part 3: Non-resident property owners respond to
the storm’s aftermath
Hurricane Irene survey, Part 2:
Residents’ evaluation of official response to the storm
Part 1: Residents’ responses on
evacuation and re-entry
|
 Hatteras
Island Ocean Center is a new project that would be a fishing pier – and
much more
If
all goes the way that Eric Kaplan sees it going, Hatteras Island may
have a new fishing pier in the near future. Kaplan is the driving force
behind the just recently conceived Hatteras Island Ocean Center, which
would be a fishing pier for southern Hatteras Island – and much more.
Kaplan’s
idea is that the Ocean Center would be an island-wide attraction, a
place where locals and visitors could go not only for the fishing but
for other forms of recreation, education, dining, and shopping.
Read
more
|
 HURRICANE AFTERMATH:
The Mess at Mirlo: Future is uncertain for Rodanthe beach
houses
The
road that runs through Mirlo Beach has been fixed and the dunes rebuilt
but homeowners face serious questions on how to repair their houses on
the east and west sides of Highway 12. Hurricane Irene delivered a
crushing blow to Mirlo Beach, which is located in north Rodanthe, by
destroying a large section of Highway 12 and by undermining houses on
both sides of the road. Read
more
|
|
|
