The North Carolina Department of Transportation will replace a culvert under Highway 12 in Frisco in two weeks, and the project will require a total closure of the road for an entire weekend.
According to John Able, Division 1 bridge program manager, work will begin on the culvert at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb 28, and be finished by no later than 6 a.m. on Monday, March 3.
The culvert is located at Milepost 65 on the north end of Frisco, just south of Timber Trail.
The culvert must be replaced before Highway 12 in Frisco is resurfaced, which is scheduled for this spring.
Because of the nature and size of the culvert, Able said, there is no way to provide a detour around the work.
He said DOT explored a temporary bridge around the work, but it would have doubled the cost for only a weekend of use. And, perhaps more importantly, it would require a major CAMA permit, which takes months not weeks.
On Hatteras and Ocracoke as the word spread today about the closure, many folks were just stunned, if not steamed.
Some county officials in Dare County knew that DOT was considering a total closure to replace the culvert, but did not find out that it was going to happen ? and going to happen in two weeks ? until this morning.
Bobby Outten, Dare County manager, and Sandy Sanderson, director of the county?s Emergency Management, said they had been working with DOT. Allen Burrus, Hatteras Island?s commissioner, also didn?t get the word until this morning.
?We had encouraged them to find other options,? Outten said this afternoon, but he was not notified until this morning that the closure would definitely happen and in two weeks.
?We have been trying to get them (DOT) to understand,? Sanderson said, referring to the many complications and inconveniences of a complete closure ? even for weekend.
There are public safety issues for Emergency Medical Services and volunteer fire departments.
The closure will keep many folks on both sides from getting to their jobs.
Although it?s not a really busy time for visitors, there are some cottages booked and the folks renting homes will have to take the ferry from the mainland to Ocracoke and then to Hatteras.
For visitors on northern Hatteras and the northern beaches, there will be no day trips to Ocracoke on the Hatteras Inlet ferry that weekend.
And the many residents who have reasons to travel the road ? for church, shopping, or visiting friends and family ? will be staying home.
So, while some officials knew it was coming, they now have only two weeks to prepare.
Others, including most business owners and residents, were stunned to get the news.
?Wouldn?t it have been better to have let people know?? asked Richard Marlin, Frisco Volunteer Fire Department chief. He thinks that DOT ? even if it was unsure of the date ? could have gotten the word out to the public that total closure was a possibility so that folks could plan for it.
The fire department knew it was a possibility, but Marlin got the word on the timing today, along with everyone else. He said the department has a plan for the closure, which cuts off northern Frisco from the southern part of the village. One ladder engine will be moved to the northern side for the weekend.
Some public officials had no idea the closure was coming.
Bill Rich, Hyde County?s manager, was among the stunned when he got a call from a reporter about the closure about mid-afternoon.
“A little communication would go a long way,” he said.
Another surprised official was Barclay Trimble, superintendent of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. He also found out about it with a call from a reporter.
The only possibility of a detour would be by four-wheel-drive along the beach from Ramp 43 in Buxton to Ramp 49 in Frisco. If you cross over the beach at Ramp 43, you could drive the interdunal road to Ramp 45 and then head out to the beach to Ramp 49.
However, about a half mile or so of that trip of just about six miles is a vehicle-free area that runs from the hook at Cape Point to just south of Ramp 45.
Trimble said this afternoon he would look into whether any exception could be made for that short distance under the ORV plan and final rule.
Managers at rental management companies who just found out today were scrambling to check arrivals or departures for that weekend and notify guests.
Tim Hass, public information officer for DOT?s Ferry Division, said the division was aware of the closure but had not yet decided if additional sound ferries would be required that weekend.
Although Dare officials had discussed some of the issues about a closure, they shifted into high gear today.
Outten says he feels confident about the public safety issues.
An EMS crew and ambulance will be moved south of the closure for the weekend, and the county will have a helicopter available.
And he said he has encouraged all county officials to explore other options for moving people around the closure.
Can a foot bridge be built across the area, so that county buses could be used to move people north and south of the closure?
Could the county run a pontoon boat from the Scotch Bonnet Marina south of the closure to a point north of it?
Of course, options like this would require some advance planning to arrange such things as parking areas to the north and south.
John Able of DOT says it took time for the department to coordinate all of the details for the culvert work.
He also said the department considers two weeks adequate notice for a closure of this type.
He added that DOT would start notifying people immediately with media releases, posting on Facebook and Twitter, and message boards.
DOT sent out a media release just a few minutes before 5 p.m. and posted it on the Facebook Page shortly after that.
DOT has treated folks on Hatteras and Ocracoke well through hurricanes, highway closures, and bridge problems. Communication has been much better in recent years, especially with the Facebook Page.
And, if the repairs must be made, most folks will accept that.
However, with the complications of moving residents, workers, and visitors ? even during the slow season — more advance warning would have gone a long way.
It would have gone a long way if DOT had let the entire community know this closure was coming, even if officials could not give us the exact timing until two weeks out.
