Researchers begin study to evaluate how erosion may impact transportation systems on Ocracoke Island

Cape Hatteras National Seashore (Seashore) has entered into a cooperative agreement with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to evaluate the effects of several adaptation strategies related to transportation and resource management challenges on Ocracoke Island. Researchers from North Carolina State University, Duke University, East Carolina University and representatives from the North Carolina Department of Transportation, Hyde County and Tideland Electric Membership Corporation are also participating in the multi-year study.

The evolution of Ocracoke’s dynamic barrier island in response to storm events and sea level rise, presents challenges to the maintenance of the transportation corridor that spans the length of Ocracoke Island. The chronic effect of storm events and coastal processes, including high-tide flooding, may worsen shoreline erosion in the future. Additionally, climate change may amplify these challenges by increasing hurricane longevity, intensity and rainfall.

Transportation strategies that have been used for decades to maintain N.C. Highway 12 and the South Dock Ferry Terminal can impact Seashore lands and may have inadvertently contributed to the low elevations and narrow island widths that currently make transportation susceptible to disruption from multiple sources including ocean overwash, soundside flooding and heavy precipitation events.

This multi-year study will seek to answer a series of questions relating to transportation adaptation and mitigation strategies to improve transportation reliability and management of natural barrier island processes. Additionally, model scenarios will simulate the effects of using a status-quo management approach (e.g. continuing to maintain the existing location of the highway), conducting beach nourishment project(s) and exploring how the barrier island would migrate in response to other transportation alternatives.

An information session to provide an overview of the project, review the modeling exercise and solicit feedback from the public is scheduled from 1-2:30 p.m. Sept. 4, 2024, at the Ocracoke Community Center. The results from initial modeling and public feedback will be incorporated into the second year of research which will evaluate the effects of other transportation strategies before concluding with a second information session during the summer of 2025.

To learn more about the study, including additional opportunities to provide feedback, visit https://c-coast.org/ocracoke-adaptation-study.