The North Carolina Department of Transportation will have four public meetings to answer questions and receive comments about the proposed toll rate increase on Southport/Fort Fisher, Swan Quarter/Ocracoke and Cedar Island/Ocracoke routes and proposed tolling of the Bayview/Aurora and Cherry Branch/Minnesott Beach routes to begin by April 1 of this year. In 2011, the […]
Local News | Full Article
Ferry tolls will again become a hot-button topic for Hyde citizens and all ferry-riders in North Carolina as Department of Transportation officials explore ways to increase revenue. Lucy Wallace, spokesperson for the NCDOT Ferry Division, said the division has been mandated by the General Assembly to increase revenue by $4.5 million through tolls. Public hearings […]
Local News | Full Article
By Don Bowers As I went through my files from 2011, it was apparent that Hurricane Irene, which made landfall just south of Hatteras and Ocracoke on Aug. 27, was by far the biggest event of the year. It was also the top Google search for 2011. So, of course, the bulk of my slide […]
Local News | Full Article
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. The schedule will be: • Departing […]
Local News | Full Article
In two separate letters sent last week, Congressman Walter B. Jones, R-N.C., urged the House Natural Resources Committee to quickly move several fisheries reform bills through the committee and on to the House floor. These bills include Congressman Jones’ H.R. 2753 – the Fishery Management Transparency and Accountability Act, in addition to other bills that […]
Local News | Full Article
The North Carolina Department of Transportation met on Thursday, Dec. 15, with representatives of state and federal agencies to discuss which design options NCDOT should continue to study as viable, long-term solutions for the Highway 12 breaches on Pea Island and in Rodanthe. The group, called the Merger Team, reached a general consensus to narrow […]
Local News | Full Article
Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin has issued an order pertaining to dwelling fire and extended coverage insurance rates. Goodwin has ordered an overall rate decrease of 7.3 percent for dwelling property fire rates and denied a request from the North Carolina Rate Bureau to raise dwelling extended coverage rates by 36.1 percent. The North Carolina Rate […]
Local News | Full Article
The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division will run an amended schedule at its Cedar Island-Ocracoke, Swan Quarter-Ocracoke, Hatteras Inlet, Cherry Branch-Minnesott Beach, Southport-Fort Fisher and Currituck-Knotts Island routes Dec. 24-27 as a costs savings measure. The only route that will not have an amended holiday schedule is Bayview-Aurora, because of the need to […]
Local News | Full Article
After holding two well attended public workshops this week in Dare County, the North Carolina Department of Transportation will host a third workshop early next month in Ocracoke to discuss long-term solutions for the breaches on Highway 12 caused by Hurricane Irene. “Citizens on Ocracoke Island told us they wanted to know more about […]
Local News | Full Article
Island Free Press photographer Daniel Pullen didn’t get to surf or photograph surfing as much as he would have liked from late summer into the fall. Hurricane Irene got in the way. The hurricane came ashore south of Hatteras on Aug. 27, and storm surge from the Pamlico Sound cut several new inlets between Rodanthe […]
Island Features | Full Article
