OUTER BANKS, N.C. — Though tourism season has come and gone for the 2024 season, Drivers in the Outer Banks might see some increased traffic in a few areas as the North Carolina Department of Transportation kicked off three projects this week.
At Whalebone Junction in south Nags Head, pipes are being replaced underneath U.S. 158 and then the road will be repaved. The left turn to get on N.C. 12 and head south to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore is currently closed for the pipe removal and a detour is in place. On the bypass, it has also shrunk from four lanes to two to allow crews the space to do their work.
The pipe removal work should be finished in around two weeks and the detour will then be taken away. But the repaving the road there is expected to last until mid to late November, meaning it will remain a two lane road until then.
Watch: NCDOT lowers speed limit on Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge to improve traffic safety
In Corolla, crews are repaving intersections, side streets and shoulders, along with the markings on the pavement. This project is expected to be finished in early November.
The third project is the replacement of the Slash Creek Bridge in Hatteras. A detour is setup at Eagle Pass Road for this one and will take about seven months to complete. The expectation is for the work to be done by May 2025.
"The window for paving on the Outer Banks is fairly narrow because obviously you don't want to do it during the peak of tourist season and once it gets too cold in the winter, you can't lay asphalt anymore. So, there's a couple of windows in the fall and the spring and the spring tends to be kind of wet around here. We have several projects that started Monday, and that's why you're seeing most of them getting done now," said Tim Hass, communications officer with NCDOT Division One and Ferry Division.
