It's a start I suppose.

islandfreepress.org/outer...

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Same subject, different source.

ocracokeobserver.com/2025...

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Same subject, different source.

Here we go again. Why can’t they just make the tunnel free for all motorists?

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It's a start I suppose.

I guess they can always just give up? When does the cost outweigh the benefits?

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I guess they can always just give up?

My guess is they will... eventually.

"Roadway alternatives – eliminating the need to maintain the road by relocating ferry docks"

Run the ferry from Hatteras to the Silver Lake docks. Of course that would triple the ride time for the vehicle ferry, but there's the passenger ferry now. Adding another boat or two to that service I see as the path of least resistance.

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Oh my. Sand moves. But there's the 'sea level rise ' hoax again.

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I guess they can always just give up?

My guess is they will... eventually.

"Roadway alternatives – eliminating the need to maintain the road by relocating ferry docks"

Run the ferry from Hatteras to the Silver Lake docks. Of course that would triple the ride time for the vehicle ferry, but there's the passenger ferry now. Adding another boat or two to that service I see as the path of least resistance.

That actually makes the most sense. Allows the park to remain open with a ORV permit. Puts the tourists right in town keeps the beaches natural. I am also not against a pay ferry to Ocracoke.

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"I guess they can always just give up?"

Does the rest of the state give up when the roads are covered with snow? Of course not, they plow them. Over and over and over again year after year after year.

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Interestingly, or not, with the massive cost of the ferry system et al (specifically supporting the Okracoke leg) , there is a groundswell to build a bridge. Seemed absurd to me, but some of the numbers are definitely "wait, what?"

In other news, glad to see our visitors of this week are finally getting a decent beach day.

Happy Friday!

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Interestingly, or not, with the massive cost of the ferry system et al (specifically supporting the Okracoke leg) , there is a groundswell to build a bridge. Seemed absurd to me, but some of the numbers are definitely "wait, what?"

In other news, glad to see our visitors of this week are finally getting a decent beach day.

Happy Friday!

From what I can see they're going to need a lot of bridges/Causeways in the future. The current hot spots I see are: 1) The canal zone at the foot of the Basnight Bridge. 2) Highway12 at The Pea Island Vistors Center. 3) The curve on 12 in Buxton. 4) The old Izzy Inlet at the east of Hatteras Village. 5) Highway 12 below the Ocracoke Ferry Docks.
Highway 12 is in perpetual trouble and in most of the places I mentioned there's little other areas to move the road. It seems that every full moon with a little wind is blowing seawater onto the highway. The only ones benefitting are the car washes and the used car lots! I don't want to be driving through that standing salt water!

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Interestingly, or not, with the massive cost of the ferry system et al (specifically supporting the Okracoke leg) , there is a groundswell to build a bridge. Seemed absurd to me, but some of the numbers are definitely "wait, what?"

In other news, glad to see our visitors of this week are finally getting a decent beach day.

Happy Friday!

From what I can see they're going to need a lot of bridges/Causeways in the future. The current hot spots I see are: 1) The canal zone at the foot of the Basnight Bridge. 2) Highway12 at The Pea Island Vistors Center. 3) The curve on 12 in Buxton. 4) The old Izzy Inlet at the east of Hatteras Village. 5) Highway 12 below the Ocracoke Ferry Docks.
Highway 12 is in perpetual trouble and in most of the places I mentioned there's little other areas to move the road. It seems that every full moon with a little wind is blowing seawater onto the highway. The only ones benefitting are the car washes and the used car lots! I don't want to be driving through that standing salt water!

That's one of the reasons I use Fluid Film on dam near everything metal outside Lol

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Interestingly, or not, with the massive cost of the ferry system et al (specifically supporting the Okracoke leg) , there is a groundswell to build a bridge. Seemed absurd to me, but some of the numbers are definitely "wait, what?"

In other news, glad to see our visitors of this week are finally getting a decent beach day.

Happy Friday!

From what I can see they're going to need a lot of bridges/Causeways in the future. The current hot spots I see are: 1) The canal zone at the foot of the Basnight Bridge. 2) Highway12 at The Pea Island Vistors Center. 3) The curve on 12 in Buxton. 4) The old Izzy Inlet at the east of Hatteras Village. 5) Highway 12 below the Ocracoke Ferry Docks.
Highway 12 is in perpetual trouble and in most of the places I mentioned there's little other areas to move the road. It seems that every full moon with a little wind is blowing seawater onto the highway. The only ones benefitting are the car washes and the used car lots! I don't want to be driving through that standing salt water!

Sorry, I wasn't clear - the okracoke bridge was more a future cost delta between ferry vs a bridge...as I recall the current ferry budget allocates around $22m per annum in operating costs - way, way more than the other routes. Personally, I think a bridge over to okracoke would lose a bunch of current charm.

But, yeah, all the spots you ID's above are problematic and increasingly so

and, YES to fluid film!!!!

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If you build the bridge then the maintenance of rt 12 for the 12 miles to Ocracoke then takes over as the expense and that will continue to deteriorate.
The ferry landing moving to can use the existing swan quarter ferry docks and parking there and then the issue is the dredge channel to the existing channel. I would think that is the cheapest and quickest solution to access.

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If you build the bridge then the maintenance of rt 12 for the 12 miles to Ocracoke then takes over as the expense and that will continue to deteriorate.
The ferry landing moving to can use the existing swan quarter ferry docks and parking there and then the issue is the dredge channel to the existing channel. I would think that is the cheapest and quickest solution to access.

I agree, but that’s the furthest hot spot to the south. If you don’t put a cork in the bottle further up the road nobody will be able to get to the Hatteras Ferry docks anyway. All three hot spots, from Buxton north, aren’t an easy fix.

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If you build the bridge then the maintenance of rt 12 for the 12 miles to Ocracoke then takes over as the expense and that will continue to deteriorate.
The ferry landing moving to can use the existing swan quarter ferry docks and parking there and then the issue is the dredge channel to the existing channel. I would think that is the cheapest and quickest solution to access.

I agree, but that’s the furthest hot spot to the south. If you don’t put a cork in the bottle further up the road nobody will be able to get to the Hatteras Ferry docks anyway. All three hot spots, from Buxton north, aren’t an easy fix.

Get rid of the motel at the north end of buxton either by buying it at market price or eminent domain ( I know that's not popular) and use the space to build a barrier and also raise 12 from the south parking lot at the park to past fatties. The overwash areas south of the Basnight and at Pea Island are bigger issues because USFWS won't do ANYTHING to help NCDOT engineer a solution for rt12

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