Date: 11/10/26 10:55 am From: Harry LeGrand (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: FW: NPS/FWS NEWS RELEASE - Proposed Move of NC 12 at the Pea I. Visitor Center
Folks,
This very important announcement came out today. Nearly everyone on this
listserve knows about the issues with NC 12 at Pea Island refuge being
damaged twice by overwash in the last 1.5 months, and the efforts to move
the road. In essence, NC DOT wants/plans to move NC 12 to the west of the
Visitor Center (pending approval by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and
the National Park Service), alongside the existing powerlines, passing to
the back (west) side of the Visitor Center and then between Turtle Pond and
the SE corner of North Pond. The parking lot would be retained for visitor
access to the south dike of North Pond, but the Visitor Center is to be
moved or re-built somewhere else. As many folks already know, this stretch
of NC 12 is currently just one paved lane, with stop signals at each
end, for one-way traffic to the public at a time. Currently, large sand
bags are being brought in to bolster the beach a bit; the second lane is
expected to be paved and in use in a few weeks. See the details below..
Folks should know that Pea Island NWR is perhaps the most important
national wildlife refuge, if not the most important birding "hotspot", on
the Atlantic Coast. Thus, for us birders, it is hoped that the 3 refuge
impoundments will not be impacted by this realignment. But, note that this
is NOT a long-term solution, but a short-term one. A long-term plan could
mean a bridge over Pamlico Sound bypassing the impoundments, a la the
"Jughandle Bridge" just to the south, or a bridge/causeway literally over
the impoundments, or somehow along the back sides of the impoundments.
Let's hope this short-term plan works for a while!
Harry LeGrand
Raleigh
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*Agencies Seek Public Comment on N.C. Department of Transportation’s
Proposal to Move N.C. Highway 12 at Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge’s
Visitor Center on Hatteras Island*
*MANTEO, N.C. *— The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park
Service invite the public to provide input on the North Carolina Department
of Transportation’s proposal to realign a section of N.C. Highway 12 near
the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center on Hatteras Island.
Public comments will be accepted from Nov. 10 through Nov. 24, 2026.
The USFWS has received a right-of-way application from NCDOT to move
approximately 3,000 feet of highway about 150 feet west of its current
alignment. The proposed realignment would require demolition and
reconstruction or relocation of the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge
Visitor Center, the NPS managed restroom facility and wastewater system,
and associated parking areas.
NCDOT’s proposal is intended to reduce the highway’s vulnerability to
coastal hazards, including ocean overwash that has flooded and damaged the
roadway and caused multiday closures.
Under the proposal, the visitor center and restroom facility would be
reconstructed or relocated to an alternate site nearby. A small parking
area would remain near the existing visitor center to allow for access to
the North Pond Wildlife Trail and Refuge impoundments.
Project information and instructions for submitting comments are available
on the NPS Planning, Environment, and Public Comment website
<https://parkplanning.nps.gov/NC12>. Additionally, public comments may be
submitted via email to <alligatorriver...> or by mail to P.O. Box 1969,
Manteo, NC 27954.
----------
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Park Service
(NPS) are inviting
public review and comment on a proposal from the North Carolina Department
of
Transportation (NCDOT) to realign a section of N.C. Highway 12 on Pea
Island National
Wildlife Refuge.
NCDOT has submitted a preliminary application to USFWS proposing to realign
approximately 0.63 miles of the existing two-lane roadway about 180 feet to
the west
(centerline to centerline).
The purpose of the proposed realignment is to reduce vulnerability to
coastal hazards.
Nor’easters in late September and mid-October 2026 damaged roughly 1,200
feet of pavement, severed road access to Hatteras Island for multiple days,
and required activation of the Rodanthe–Stumpy Point emergency ferry. NCDOT
is currently implementing temporary sandbag protection as a short-term
measure for the existing highway. The realignment is intended to qualify
for emergency funding and provide more reliable access while longer-term
solutions are developed through NCDOT’s ongoing Planning and Environmental
Linkages (PEL) study for the Pea Island corridor.
Proposed actions include:
• Request for a new 100-foot highway easement (50 feet each side of the new
centerline) and abandonment of the existing easement after removal of the
old
road.
• Construction of a new 30-foot-wide paved two-lane road immediately
adjacent to
the existing Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative (CHEC) power line.
• Relocation of one power pole (Pole 75) approximately 15 feet west within
the
existing CHEC easement.
• Filling of approximately 1,714 square feet of potential jurisdictional
wetlands and
2,317 square feet of open waters at the “turtle pond” behind the restrooms.
• Complete removal of the existing roadway and sandbags once traffic is
switched to
the new alignment.
• Construction of a new dune (approximately 15 feet high and 45 feet wide)
largely
within the existing highway easement, sprigged with sea oats or American
beach
grass depending on season.
• Demolition and reconstruction or relocation of the Pea Island National
Wildlife
Refuge Visitor Center, associated parking, and the North Pond restrooms and
wastewater system, and adjustments to access for the North Pond Wildlife
Trail and
gated refuge administrative access
Public comments will be accepted from November 10 through November 24, 2026.
Project information and instructions for submitting comments are available
on the NPS
Planning, Environment, and Public Comment website. Additionally, public
comments may
be submitted via email to <alligatorriver...> or by mail to P.O. Box
1969, Manteo, NC
27954.
Thank you for your interest and participation
