For most of the last week of September, the main way on and off Hatteras Island ran through Rodanthe by boat. It didn't cross Pea Island. A nor'easter closed N.C. 12 between the Marc Basnight Bridge and Rodanthe on Thursday, Sept. 24. Repeated ocean overwash broke through the protective dunes near the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center, and NCDOT later counted about 1,000 feet of broken or undermined pavement. Until the road came back, the island's traffic, supplies and patience all ran through one corner of soundside Rodanthe.
That corner is the Rodanthe Emergency Ferry Dock at 23170 Myrna Peters Road, just north of the Rodanthe-Waves-Salvo Community Building. On Wednesday, Nov. 18, NCDOT holds a public meeting in that community building to take comments on the 11-mile stretch of N.C. 12 that includes the damaged section. The block that kept the island supplied in September gets to weigh in on what happens to the road next.
Two Weeks, Stage by Stage
The closure ended faster than NCDOT first expected, but it ended in stages. Most people's memory of it depends on which stage caught them.
| Date | What changed |
|---|---|
| Thu., Sept. 24 | N.C. 12 closes between the Marc Basnight Bridge and Rodanthe |
| Sun., Sept. 27 | Emergency ferry service to Stumpy Point begins at 11 a.m.; crews start rebuilding the dune once the tides ease |
| Tue., Sept. 29 | A one-lane gravel detour opens to northbound traffic only at 3 p.m. |
| Wed., Sept. 30 | Alternating two-way traffic starts at 7 a.m.; the ferry stops at 2 p.m. |
| Thu., Oct. 1 | Hatteras Island reopens to visitors at 7 a.m. |
| Sat., Oct. 3 | Two lanes of free-flowing traffic return at about 7 p.m. |
| Thu., Oct. 8 | Dune rebuild complete; NCDOT ends intermittent stops |
N.C. Transportation Secretary Daniel Johnson visited the damaged section on Tuesday, Sept. 29. At the time, NCDOT hoped to have two lanes back around the middle of the following week. The Saturday evening switchover beat that by several days. Johnson credited emergency contracts arranged before the storm for getting private contractors on site quickly.
How the Ferry Line Worked
The Rodanthe-to-Stumpy Point route was a contingency plan most of the island had never seen used. According to Island Free Press, it was the first time NCDOT had activated it in nearly 13 years. Three ferries ran around the clock for several days, carrying residents, visitors, workers, supplies and commercial vehicles.
Who could ride depended on which way you were going. Dare County set inbound access by priority:
- Priority One: essential personnel
- Priority Two: permanent residents and critical-business personnel. Residents could qualify with an ID showing a Hatteras Island address, and a 2026 entry permit sped up processing.
Leaving the island was mostly first come, first served. Delivery vendors heading back to the mainland got priority, so the trucks could turn around and come back loaded. For urgent trips, people could request priority electronically. Requests were decided case by case, and each direction needed its own application.
That meant lines on Myrna Peters Road, and the lines are where the neighborhood showed up. The Coastland Times photographed two Waves residents who brought a grill and cooked hot dogs for the people waiting. On Monday, Sept. 28, N.C. Baptists on Mission set up a mobile kitchen in Rodanthe to hand out hot meals, snacks and bottled water to stranded travelers. Baptist Press reported that volunteers planned to stay through at least Wednesday. HICERT offered volunteers for the dock to pass along information, staff a table and help hand out food.
Supplies Came Through Rodanthe, and So Did the Help
Every egg that reached the south end of the island that week came through the same chokepoint. On Sept. 28, Island Free Press reported food-delivery trucks bringing meat, eggs, produce and other essentials after several days without normal road access. The next day's update named Village Red & White in Hatteras and Conner's Supermarket in Buxton among the stores getting deliveries.
Closer to the dock, a first-person account in The Local Reporter described a grocery run to Island Convenience in Rodanthe for canned goods, ground beef and fried chicken, with the store still stocked.
Help reached past groceries:
- Beach Pharmacy in Avon stayed open after hours and through the weekend, and pharmacists and a physician pitched in to fill prescriptions. Island Free Press reported nearly 500 new patients from Wednesday through Sunday. A medication shipment arrived Monday, Sept. 28.
- St. John United Methodist Church at 40336 McMullen Road in Avon served a free emergency dinner, open to everyone, at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 27.
- Community Yoga in Frisco, at 53561 N.C. Highway 12, offered free, donation-based "After the Storm" classes at 8:30 a.m. every day from Sept. 27 through Oct. 3.
Most of that help came from Avon, Buxton, Frisco and Hatteras village. All of it depended on what got through in Rodanthe.
Thirty Seconds of Green, Eleven Minutes of Red
The ferry ended once the gravel detour could carry traffic both ways, and the detour came with a rhythm of its own. An automated signal gave each direction about 30 seconds of green, then roughly 11 minutes of red. On Sept. 30, NCDOT said the timing wasn't a malfunction. It reflected the detour's length and its 10 mph speed limit. Drivers reported delays of one to two hours that Wednesday, before visitors were allowed back the next morning.
The traffic stops ended on Oct. 8. NCDOT still advised caution near the Visitor Center, with standing water on some shoulders and crews collecting traffic-control equipment.
The Nov. 18 Meeting, Next Door to the Dock
The broken section sits inside the 11-mile stretch between the Marc Basnight Bridge and the Rodanthe "Jug Handle" Bridge. NCDOT describes that corridor as having seen repeated storm damage and periodic closures. It's also the subject of NCDOT's Solving Access for N.C. 12 in Dare County plan, the SAND Plan, project HO-0020. NCDOT and the Federal Highway Administration are developing the plan with federal grant money, alongside the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Dare County. Its goal is to weigh short- and long-term options for more reliable access.
The first round of public meetings ran in April 2026, before the nor'easter. The second round is next month. NCDOT says all three sessions present the same information.
| Date | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Tue., Nov. 17, 2026 | 5–7 p.m. | Jennette's Pier, 7223 S. Virginia Dare Trail, Nags Head |
| Wed., Nov. 18, 2026 | 5–7 p.m. | Rodanthe-Waves-Salvo Community Building, 23646 N.C. Highway 12, Rodanthe |
| Thu., Nov. 19, 2026 | 5–7 p.m. | Hatteras Civic Center, Hatteras |
At each session, NCDOT staff will take comments on the project's purpose and need and on early solution concepts. Comments can also go through NCDOT's public input portal. The SAND Plan is a planning study, not a construction schedule. NCDOT expects to issue its report in 2027.
Dare County has already said what it wants. Island Free Press reported the county's priorities: moving N.C. 12 west near the Visitor Center as a short-term step, and building a bridge of about 1.5 miles through the Canal Zone and Visitor Center area as a long-term option. Both are positions the county is pushing. Neither has a construction start.
The Weeks Between Now and Then
The open road brings back the smaller fall routines on the north end of the island, and a couple of them end soon.
The Tri-Villages Market at Camp Hatteras, 24798 N.C. 12 in Waves, holds its last Wednesday of the 2026 season on Oct. 14. It runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., with more than 40 vendors, including the Coastal Farmers Co-op.
Rodanthe Pier has more time left. It reopened on March 28 with new decking on the pier house's north deck and new benches. The operator says the pier generally closes the weekend after Thanksgiving. The posted hours don't match, though. The operator's website lists 7 a.m. to midnight after mid-September, while the March Island Free Press report gave 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Call the pier before planning an evening there.
Between the pier's last weeks and the final market morning, the Nov. 18 meeting is the one date on the Rodanthe calendar set in the building right next to where the ferries landed.
Owning on Hatteras Island means following the road as closely as the season, and our team has watched this corridor for more than two decades. If you'd like to know how the island's market looks this fall, now that the road is open again, start with your Instant OBX Home Valuation from Brad Beacham Group. We're glad to talk it through with you after that.
