No Typical Day at Beach for Some Diverted Drivers

By CATHERINE KOZAK

By Catherine Kozak

The Virginian-Pilot

OCRACOKE ISLAND

Winding their way up the coast from Beaufort, Randi and Bill Coblenz thought a drive Wednesday on an Ocracoke Island beach would be fun.

Instead, the Arlington, Va., couple ended up needing a tow on Day 1 of a $7 million bridge replacement project that includes the unusual requirement to divert traffic onto a 3-mile stretch of sand within feet of the Atlantic. Only four-wheel drive vehicles are allowed on the detour.

“We now know the difference between four-wheel and all-wheel,” Randi Coblenz told Jarvis Williams, an owner of Cape Point Exxon in Buxton, after he pulled up with his tow truck to the disabled Subaru Outback.

Staged on the beach in a pickup to keep an eye on the beach traffic, Williams had responded quickly after he was notified the vehicle was stuck fast at the end of the ramp off N.C. 12 by the National Park Service campground. He picked up his tow truck parked by the pony pens and bounced along about 25 mph to the stranded car. Then, he hooked a line to the bumper and told the couple they’d probably need a pull the entire way. There was good news: Because the road was closed, the state would pick up the tow bill.

That seemed to please Coblenz. “Really? Want a pretzel?” she said cheerfully to Williams.

Williams said he is paid $75 per tow and $10 an hour to be on- call 24 hours.

For the most part, the detour from pavement to beach and back proved to be mostly inconsequential on the first day of the 10-week project.

“It’s been pretty quiet,” Hyde County Emergency Management Director Tony Spencer said in the late afternoon. “Stuff is getting through. There’s been no major problems.”

The ferry schedule from Cedar Island and Swan Quarter and from Hatteras Island has been adjusted to allow transport of truck traffic for construction material and normal deliveries. Park Service rangers are helping with mail and medicine deliveries. Local residents left the island for vacations or stocked up with supplies before the road closed.

Billie Barnett, a Ferry Division crew member at Hatteras, said she saw about nine vehicles driven by islanders stuffed with food and other necessities come past before the road closed.

“I’ve never seen so much toilet paper in my life,” she said.

Jason’s Restaurant has remained open for lunch and dinner, the only one on the island to do so. Owner Jason Wells said the eatery also is delivering lunches daily to 35 bridge workers.

Intensive planning and cooperation between the state Department of Transportation, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, Hyde County, island businesses and the civic organization and the community apparently has paid off, at least so far.

“There will probably be good day and bad days,” Spencer said. “Most of the locals have been like us – let’s get it done.”

Because all seven bridges, built along with highway in the 1950s, needed to be replaced, it was decided that the best use of the available transportation funds was to do it at one time, rather than having to disrupt traffic for 1 1/2 years. The only way to make that work was to close the road. And the only detour on the narrow barrier island was the beach.

It’s the first time the Department of Transportation has diverted traffic onto a beach, transportation officials said.

Driving on the beach is normal life for the 850 year-round residents of the village, but visitors who venture off-road can find that driving through rutted sand is not as simple as it looks.

“For the most part, the local people are OK,” Williams said. “If you have to hook up to a local, it would be a mechanical situation.”

A trailer equipped with wide tires is also available to transport vehicles for residents who do not have an off-road vehicle, he said.

With the project being done in the winter months when visitation is lowest, most residents have made adjustments for the inconvenience.

“It needs to be fixed,” said 11-year resident Harry Lawrence as he waited for lunch at Jason’s Restaurant. “It’s the best time to do it. You can’t do it in the middle of the season.”

Sitting nearby, Byron Bateman said villagers have mixed feelings about the road being closed, especially because of the impact on the beach and on business. But he said he is fine with it.

“We’ve had a kind of busy summer season,” he said. “If it slows the crowds down for a little bit, I’m all right with that.”

Catherine Kozak, (252) 441-1711,

cate.kozak@pilotonline.com

the $7 million project

Seven bridges along N.C. 12 need to be replaced, which requires the road to be closed. The only detour on the narrow barrier island is on three miles of beach. the effects

The detour will last for 10 weeks. A tow truck is stationed on the beach to help when cars get stuck. Residents either left the island on vacation or stocked up with supplies.

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