North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division is expanding the schedules of four ferry routes to accommodate the increase in spring traffic.

As of Tuesday, the Hatteras-Ocracoke route increased daily departures from 36 to 52, and the Swan Quarter-Ocracoke and Cedar Island-Ocracoke schedules both increased from four to six daily departures.

The Southport-Fort Fisher route moved to its spring schedule, increasing daily departures on weekdays only from 28 to 32, but the weekend schedule will remain unchanged.

The Cherry Branch-Minnesott Beach, Bayview-Aurora and Currituck-Knotts Island routes will all remain on their year-round schedules.

Spring ferry schedules as of Tuesday, March 31, were the following:

Hatteras-Ocracoke

• From Hatteras: 5 a.m., 6 a.m., 7 a.m., 8 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m., noon, 1 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3 p.m., 4 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 5 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 6 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 8 p.m., 9 p.m., 11 p.m., and midnight.
• From Ocracoke: 4:30 a.m., 6:30 a.m., 7:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., noon, 12:30 p.m., 1 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 4 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 6 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 7 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 9 p.m., 9:30 p.m., 10:30 p.m., and midnight.

Cedar Island-Ocracoke

• From Cedar Island: 7:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 4:30 p.m.
• From Ocracoke: 7:30 a.m., 1 p.m., 4:30 p.m.

Swan Quarter-Ocracoke

• From Swan Quarter: 10 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m.
• From Ocracoke: 7 a.m., 10 a.m., 1:30 p.m.

Southport-Fort Fisher weekdays

• From Southport: 5:30 a.m., 7 a.m., 7:45 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 9:15 a.m., 10 a.m., 10:45 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 1 p.m., 1:45 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3:15 p.m., 4 p.m., 4:45 p.m., 6:15 p.m.
• From Fort Fisher: 6:15 a.m., 7:45 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 9:15 a.m., 10 a.m., 10:45 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 1 p.m., 1:45 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3:15 p.m., 4 p.m., 4:45 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 7 p.m.

The full 2026 schedule is available for download. For real time text or email notifications on schedule adjustments and other ferry information, sign up for the Ferry Information Notification System at www.ncdot.gov/fins​.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s ferry system will soon increase the number of departures for the Hatteras-Ocracoke route.

Beginning Tuesday through to March 30, departures of the popular ferry route will jump from 28 to 36.

The new schedule from Hatteras will begin at 5 a.m. then every hour on the hour to 6 p.m., then 8 p.m., 9 p.m., 11 p.m., and midnight.

The first departure time of the day from Ocracoke will be at 4:30 a.m. and proceed as follows: 6:30 a.m., 7:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 9:30 p.m., 10:30 p.m., and midnight. 

The full schedule may be viewed and downloaded on DOT’s website.

To receive text or email notifications on schedule adjustments and other ferry information, you may sign up for the ferry information notification system.

North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division has scheduled four career events along the coast to recruit temporary and seasonal employees to staff its ferries, terminals and shipyard.

Officials said that the seasonal employees are a key part of the ferry system’s service, and they are often the first considered for permanent roles.

“In fact, a majority of last year’s temporary hires transitioned into permanent roles,” Ferry Division Director Jed Dixon said in a statement.

The career events are all from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on the following dates:

• Jan. 14 at NC Works Career Center, 3813 Arendell St., Morehead City.
• Jan. 21 at Hatteras Ferry Operations Center, 59063 N.C. 12, Hatteras.
• Jan. 28 at Southport Ferry Operations Center, 1650 Ferry Road, Southport.
• Feb. 4 at Pamlico River Ferry Operations Center, 229 N.C. 306 North, Bath.

At the events, applications will be accepted for temporary, seasonal employment at all experience levels, from general utility worker to experienced boat captains.

Those looking for permanent employment can learn more about open positions and how to obtain a Transportation Worker Identification Card or a Merchant Mariner Credential for the application process. 

Benefits of year-round, full-time permanent employment with the division include competitive salaries, health insurance, retirement benefits, and paid vacation, holiday and sick leave.

For a list of the Ferry Division’s current job openings, visit the state jobs website​ to create a profile and apply for permanent positions. For more information, call 252-370-5573.

Hatteras-Ocracoke, Cherry Branch-Minnesott Beach and Southport-Fort Fisher ferry routes will be on an adjusted schedule for the Christmas holiday.

All other state-run ferries will be on their regular schedules over the Christmas holidays, North Carolina Department of Transportation officials said Wednesday when the revised schedule was announced.

The routes will adhere to the following schedule:

Hatteras-Ocracoke Dec. 24-25

• From Hatteras: 5 a.m., 6 a.m., 8 a.m., 9 a.m., 11 a.m., noon, 2 p.m., 3 p.m., 6 p.m., 9 p.m., midnight.
• From Ocracoke: 4:30 a.m., 6:30 a.m., 7:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 10:30 p.m.

Cherry Branch-Minnesott Beach Dec. 25

• From Cherry Branch: 5 a.m., 5:45 a.m., 6:45 a.m., 7:45 a.m., 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 11 a.m., noon, 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 8:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.
• From Minnesott Beach: 5:25 a.m., 6:15 a.m., 7:15 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m., 4 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m., 7 p.m., 8 p.m., 9 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Southport-Fort Fisher Dec. 25

• From Southport: 5:30 a.m., 7 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m., 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.
• From Fort Fisher: 6:15 a.m., 7:45 a.m., 9:15 a.m., 10:45 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 1:45 p.m., 3:15 p.m. and 4:45 p.m.

Arrr! you worried you won’t make it to the Ocracoke Pirate Jamboree because of the ongoing closure of a section of N.C. 12 on Ocracoke Island?

Well matey, we’ve got some good news for you.

You can still walk the plank onto the passenger-only ferry that runs from Hatteras to Ocracoke or walk on the sound class vehicle ferries from Cedar Island or Swan Quarter to get to the jamboree, one sure to immerse visitors in Ocracoke Island’s pirate lore and the legend of Blackbeard.

“We encourage our visitors to hop on the passenger ferry or walk-on from the mainland,” Ocracoke Access Alliance Executive Director Justin LeBlanc said in a release.  “Our village is quite walkable, there are bikes and golf carts available for rent, and we hope to have our public tram running for the weekend.”

All ferry terminals offer free parking on a first-come, first-served basis.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation continues to work to clear N.C. 12 on Ocracoke with the hope of re-opening one lane of the road by 5 p.m. Friday, though “much depends on any additional overwash of the road during the next high tide,” scheduled for later today, according to a release.

Vehicle ferry operations, which have been suspended because of the closure of N.C. 12 at the north end of Ocracoke Island, will resume once the road reopens.

“We appreciate the efforts of the NC Ferry Division to provide access to the island during this difficult time,” LeBlanc said.  “Folks who choose the passenger ferry will be returned to their vehicles in Hatteras at the end of their visit to our wonderful island.”

Passengers of the Ocracoke Express, which bypasses N.C. 12, are delivered directly into the village where the festival kicked off Friday. A round-trip ticket is $15 and reservations may be made in person or by calling 1-800-BY-FERRY.

NCDOT’s Ferry Division personnel will decide whether to extend weekend service later Friday afternoon, according to a release.

An evening round trip on the Ocracoke-Swan Quarter vehicle ferry has been added Friday, departing at 7 p.m. with a return trip from Swan Quarter at 10:30 p.m., according to a DOT release.

For a full schedule, visit the N.C. Ferry Division’s webpage.

Two heavily shoaled channels used by state ferries to Ocracoke Island are expected to be dredged next year, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The Corps’ Wilmington District announced Wednesday its award of a contract for maintenance dredging of Rollinson Channel, also known as the Hatteras Ferry Channel, and the Big Foot Slough portion of Silver Lake Harbor at the opposite end of the island.

Chesapeake, Virginia-based Cottrell Contracting Corp. was awarded the $11,778,000 contract to restore the channels to their authorized depths, “which is vital for the safety of mariners, navigation, and the local economy that relies on waterborne commerce and recreational boating,” according to a Corps release.

“This effort will help ensure the continued navigability of these important waterways and support the essential work of our stakeholders at the North Carolina Ferry Division,” the release states. “The Wilmington District is committed to working closely with the contractor and local stakeholders to minimize disruption and ensure a successful project completion.”

Precariously perched as a narrow strand protruding into the stormy Atlantic Ocean, Ocracoke Island and its vulnerable highway have been a longtime headache for coastal scientists and road engineers.

Worsening erosion, flooding and storm damage exacerbated by climate change have heightened the urgency for the year-round community: What can be done to save their beloved island?

Researchers met with islanders Sept. 10 at the Ocracoke Community Center to present a study that modeled what the island’s future may hold under different scenarios, from the status quo to new efforts at beach nourishment and bridging.

The bottom line is that the very road itself, along with ongoing attempts to block the ocean’s advance with dunes and stabilize the roadbed with sandbags, has instead resulted in the narrow, low landscape that is currently so under threat by natural forces.

“The heart of the challenge is that the storm events we need to protect roads and buildings from would actually otherwise provide a lifeline for barrier islands in the face of rising sea levels,” Laura Moore, professor and associate chair of research with University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, said in an interview before the meeting. “It’s an extremely difficult reality, but unfortunately, the more successful we are in preventing storm impacts, the more quickly we’re managing the barrier islands out from under us.”

Accessible only by ferries, private boats and small planes, Ocracoke Island, most of which is part of Cape Hatteras National Seashore, depends on a single, highly vulnerable highway stretching about 13 miles from the ferry dock on the north end of the island to the village.

The road, N.C. Highway 12,  has been protected by oceanside sandbags for years along one section about 5 miles from the northern ferry terminal known as the South Dock because of the link to Hatteras Island. But not only are the sand barriers unable to withstand the overwash during storms — the road was impassible and closed for several days after Hurricane Erin in August — the stacking lanes by the ferry dock have also suffered severe erosion.

“It’s very threatened,” Moore told Coastal Review. “I mean, we spend so much time thinking about the road, and yet (potential loss) at that terminal is a storm away, maybe two.”

The multiyear study, led by the UNC Chapel Hill researchers as part of a team that also included scientists from N.C. State University, Duke University and East Carolina University, as well as representatives from the N.C. Department of Transportation, the National Park Service, Hyde County and Tideland Electric Member Corp., is intended to provide information based on scientific modeling, and does not make recommendations or propose solutions.

“What we were charged with was to consider how different management strategies might influence the future landscape,” Moore said. “So, we have looked at different management strategies under different sea level rise scenarios, and we are able to say something about how the different strategies will likely influence Island width and island elevation and the persistence of the island in the future.”

In other words, as Moore explained, the study did not set out to design and test strategies; it instead modeled, which is essentially, “if you do ‘X’, this is what is likely to happen.”

“We’re really looking at relative differences between the management strategies in terms of their effects on the island,” she said.

Moore said that researchers studied current coastal conditions and processes and worked off data and prior research provided in the N.C. 12 Task Force report and NCDOT feasibility studies for guidance as the team developed the strategies to be reviewed: the status quo, i.e., dune road and/or sandbag rebuilding and maintenance; beach nourishment, i.e., widen or nourish the eroding shoreline with sand pumped from stored dredged material or offshore deposits; or road alternatives, i.e., relocate the ferry dock(s), which would eliminate the need to maintain hot spots on N.C. 12,  or build a bridge or causeway to Hatteras Island.

What the modeling revealed is that under the status quo, the island would continue to narrow until, within years or decades, it would become impossible to maintain the transportation corridor. With use of beach nourishment, there would be short-term improvement for 10 to 20 years. But elevating or bridging the road would help to rebuild the landscape.

It’s the first time that the coastal scientists have been able to customize a barrier island model that includes all these processes for a particular location, Moore said, as well as conduct hindcast to calibrate that model.

“Not only are we supporting the local community and the stakeholders … we’re also supporting the scientific community and barrier island communities more broadly because what we’re learning also advances the science so that we can do even better next time,” she said.” It’s really been a beautiful next step to both be coproducing the science in a way that contributes to the local conversation and also contributes to the scientific advancements so that other communities throughout the world on barrier islands can also learn from one another.”

The Ocracoke erosion and road problem has been the target of much study by several iterations of an N.C. Task Force, a multiagency panel of coastal scientists and engineers and government officials that focused on seven vulnerable areas — the “hot spots” — all but one on Hatteras Island. The most recent group was established by the Dare County Board of Commissioners in 2021, with a report released in 2023.

Back in 1972, renowned University of Virginia coastal scientist Robert Dolan, who died in 2016 at age 87, warned in a study published in the journal Science about the consequences of development on the Outer Banks.

“Barrier dune development has been encouraged by man along the Outer Banks of North Carolina to stabilize the barrier islands,” according to the study abstract. “This modification of a delicately balanced natural system is leading to severe adjustments in both geological and ecological processes.”

Dolan, who was credited with being the first scientist to determine that the Outer Banks, rather than being anchored to coral reefs, was instead a 30-foot-deep shifting “ribbon of sand,” later elaborated, saying that the islands’ dune system “may be detrimental to the long-range stability of the barriers and may become more difficult and costly to manage than the original natural system.”

While other coastal scientists have built on Dolan’s research, including Moore, it is undeniable that the complex tension between natural forces and humanity’s need to control them where they live is becoming more difficult in places like Ocracoke.

“And so, the only reason the barrier islands exist in the first place is because of these processes that move sand from the front to the island interior,” Moore said. “That’s what formed these islands, right? And so now that things are changing more rapidly, we’re just really getting pinched in a way that we haven’t seen before.”

In simple terms, barrier islands are built higher and broader by overwash and wind carrying sand over the land. Where the ocean is battering away at the shoreline, the swath of land from the ocean to the sound side collects the sand, unless it’s blocked.

“We are understandably wanting to protect road and roads and infrastructure,” she said. “It makes perfect sense from that perspective, to build a dune to protect the road.”

As sea levels are getting higher, and storms intensify, the battering is more powerful. “And if we don’t allow the island elevation to build up, it will eventually become fragmented and drown in these areas,” Moore said. “So we’re kind of fighting a losing battle, unfortunately.”

Sea levels have been rising ever since the islands formed, she added. But it’s now rising much faster. Between the year 2000 and 2050, seas have been expected to rise 12 inches, a rate Moore called “very significant.”

“It’s so unfortunate, but if we can’t quickly slow the rate of sea level rise, we’re definitely going to have to find different ways to live at the coast,” she said. “In the case of barrier islands, if we want them to persist, we need to find a way to allow them to shift underneath us or accept that we may lose the ability to live on them at all.”

Still, with adjustments, there is hope, Moore said. Citing the 2.4-mile Rodanthe “jug handle” Bridge” and, farther north, the 2,350-foot-long Richard Etheridge Bridge as examples, she said sand will rebuild the island and the shoreline when the natural processes are allowed to happen.

The main goal of the research is to provide the scientific models of several scenarios so the community can work with partners in planning their island’s future.

“It’s really an opportunity to be an incredible example and posterchild leading the way for coastal communities broadly, because they are at the forefront,” Moore said.

Naturally, islanders can see that conditions are changing, and something has to be done, said Randal Mathews, chair of the Hyde County Board of Commissioners and an Ocracoke resident. For the time being, he said, the consensus seems to be to do beach nourishment.

“Well, it’s going to buy some time, because there’s no long-term plan, and there’s no real good short-term plan.”

What could be a reasonable solution, he said, is to “harden” the area with a jetty by the South Dock Ferry Terminal.

What the island folks don’t want to do is move the ferry terminal toward the Pony Pens in the middle of the island, as has been proposed in the recent past.

“They did a survey, and it was 90% of the people don’t want to move south and don’t want to lose access from Hatteras, because they know, like after Dorian, that’s what it was like here, logistically,” he said. “We were dying.”

Mathews said he is truly grateful for Moore’s and her research team’s work, and islanders are listening. But meanwhile, Ocracoke can’t withstand repeated hits to its economy, and the ferry system and road access are major concerns. And he knows that they need political support and funding.

“You know, in the big picture, there’s a lot of moving parts that we have to address, we have to come up with these short-term solutions,” he said. “And we’ve got to  go to Raleigh, and we’ve got to go begging, you know, and that that’s how it works.”

Weight restrictions have been placed on the Southport-Fort Fisher ferry route after a ramp at the Southport terminal was damaged over the weekend.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation on Tuesday announced the restrictions will be in place “until further notice.”

Any vehicle weighing over 18 tons, including tractor trailers, dump trucks, heavy equipment, fuel tankers and similar types of vehicles or equipment, will not be allowed onto the ramp.

“School buses, campers, trucks and trailers are not restricted and will be allowed to board,” according to a DOT release.

The restrictions will remain in place until the ramp system is repaired.

The North Carolina Ferry Division, under the N.C. Department of Transportation, announced on Friday that four of its ferry routes will adjust for the off-season.

The Ocracoke Express passenger ferry will end its seasonal service on Sept. 15. The 2025 season for the ferry that transports up to 129 passengers between Hatteras and Ocracoke’s Silver Lake Harbor began May 13.

The motor-vehicle ferries traveling between Southport and Fort Fisher, Swan Quarter and Ocracoke, and Cedar Island and Ocracoke are to begin Tuesday adhering to the following off-season schedules:

Cedar Island to Ocracoke: 7:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Ocracoke to Cedar Island: 7:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Swan Quarter to Ocracoke: 10 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Ocracoke to Swan Quarter: 7 a.m., 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

Southport to Fort Fisher during the week: 5:30 a.m., 7 a.m., 7:45 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 9:15 a.m., 10:45 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m., 1:45 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3:15 p.m., 4 p.m., 4:45 p.m. and 6:15 p.m.

Fort Fisher to Southport during the week: 6:15 a.m., 7:45 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 9:15 a.m., 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 1:45 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3:15 p.m., 4 p.m., 4:45 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Southport to Fort Fisher on weekends: 7 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 9:15 a.m., 10 a.m., 10:45 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 1 p.m., 1:45 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3:15 p.m., 4 p.m., 4:45 p.m. and 6:15 p.m.

Fort Fisher to Southport on weekends: 7:45 a.m., 9:15 a.m., 10 a.m., 10:45 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 1 p.m., 1:45 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3:15 p.m., 4 p.m., 4:45 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Visit the website for a complete schedule of all state-run ferries.

Transportation along the Outer Banks is beginning to return to normal in the aftermath of Hurricane Erin’s close pass.

N.C. Highway 12 on Ocracoke Island, which ocean water washed over and partially undermined during storm-amplified high tides, was set to reopen at 5 p.m. Monday.

The Hatteras-Ocracoke vehicle ferry was to begin service also at 5 p.m. with an amended schedule overnight followed by a full schedule Tuesday morning.

The ferry schedule tonight is as follows:

• Departures from Hatteras at 5, 6, 7:30, 8, 9, 11 p.m. and midnight.
• Departures from Ocracoke at 6, 6:30, 7:30, 9, 9:30, 10:30 p.m. and midnight.

The ferries will resume the regular summer schedules on Tuesday.

“Keep in mind, there will be some water and a thin skim of sand on the highway, so please drive with extreme caution if heading that way,” North Carolina Department of Transportation officials said in a Facebook post. “Our crews will also be continuing to work on the road, so please give them room to work.”

N.C. 12 on Hatteras Island reopened Saturday, and those who had evacuated were allowed to return. The Marc Basnight Bridge reopened at noon Saturday.

The highway was closed the evening of Aug. 20 after severe overwash from Hurricane Erin inundated a section of the highway with deep water and sand north of the National Park Service Pony Pens. Since then, NCDOT crews have been working to clear N.C. 12 between high tide cycles to make the road safe for travel.

Also, the Buxton Woods Reserve site of the North Carolina Coastal has reopened after being closed since Aug. 18 because of the potential risks associated with the storm.

Featured Image

The North Carolina Department of Transportation Ferry Division vehicle ferry Avon prepares to dock at the Minnesott Beach Ferry Terminal in Pamlico County, making one of the service’s numerous daily, 20-minute trips each way, back and forth between here and the Cherry Branch terminal across the Neuse River in Craven County. The Avon is one of 21 state ferries serving commuters and visitors on seven routes across the Neuse, Cape Fear and Pamlico rivers, and the Currituck and Pamlico sounds, and their schedules vary seasonally. Photo: Dylan Ray

Reprinted from the Island Free Press

After wrestling for years to secure timely maintenance of the Rodanthe-Stumpy Point emergency ferry channel for Hatteras Island, the Dare County Waterways Commission decided Monday that the best solution would be for the county to secure the permits to have its local dredge do the work.

The commission had agreed last month to request modification of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ permit that would allow mechanical dredging of a troublesome area in Rodanthe Harbor. But after recent discussions with the Corps, Ken Willson, the county’s consultant with Wilmington-based Coastal Protection Engineering, said that in considering all the factors, it made sense for the county to explore permitting for dredging the channel to 12 feet and working as needed year-round.

“The idea for going deeper is basically to allow the Miss Katie (the county vessel) to do maintenance dredging,” Willson, speaking remotely, told commissioners at its July meeting in Manteo.

As Willson explained, the Corps is authorized to dredge “6 feet plus 2” feet deep with a pipeline dredge, but it cannot dredge in the warm months during turtle nesting season.

The permit would have to be modified to allow mechanical dredging with a bucket-and-barge, but that application would cost about $100,000 and take many months to complete. And the Corps can’t even promise that the environmental assessment would be modified.

In exploring an alternative approach, Willson said that it would cost an estimated $122,000 and take about a year to do vibracore sampling and obtain permits for the Miss Katie, not including submerged aquatic vegetation or shellfish surveys that may be required, which could increase total costs to about $150,000. Typically, the state would pay 75% of the cost of the assessment, with the county picking up the remainder.

The commission unanimously approved a motion requesting the Dare County Board of Commissioners to pursue permitting the Miss Katie to maintain the emergency ferry channel.

Commission administrator Barton Grover said that the county would seek to permit hopper and pipeline dredging, as well as bucket-and-barge, so all bases would be covered.

“The good will” the community would feel knowing that the channel was accessible, Waterways Commission Chair Steve “Creature” Coulter noted, “is worth every penny.”

Catherine “Cat” Peele, with the N.C. Department of Transportation Ferry Division, told commissioners in an earlier remote discussion during the meeting that recent test runs in the channel showed that it remains navigable, with about 6 feet of water still on the Rodanthe end where the shoaling had been an issue. Last September, Dare County paid about $100,000 to have a bucket-and-barge remove about 600 cubic yards of sand from a small area in the basin.

The Ferry Division is planning to dredge its portion of the channel in Stumpy Point in November, she added. The Corps is responsible for dredging the remainder of the channel, which was created in 2009 to provide emergency access to and from Hatteras Island when N.C. Highway 12 becomes impassable.

Also, Willson discussed a recommendation for the commission to consider extending the area for a planned cultural resource survey that is required as part of the recently approved EA that included the Hatteras Inlet bar.

The original box to be surveyed was slated to cost $87,000, he said. An extension to the east would tack on another $27,000. But then a northwest segment on the west side of that buffer is continuing to slowly migrate to the north, he added, so it would probably be worth surveying another 1,000 feet to the north, which would add one more day of work.

The thinking is that it’s cheaper to look ahead to make sure that the area that may be dredged is already covered by the cultural survey, Grover explained in a later interview.

“While they’re already there doing cultural resource surveys at the bar, we’re going to go ahead and get the Connector Channel surveyed,” he said. “Because, like Ken said, it’s a lot of mobilization costs … But once you have that contractor up here, it’s only an extra $10- $20,000 for them to do additional areas, whereas if you’re going to bring them up just for that one additional area would be like $50,000. So that’s why we’re thinking ‘Okay, while we’re up here, where do y’all think the channel may move in the future?’”

Grover said the board of commissioners will also be asked at its August meeting to approve the extended survey work.

In another matter, a question was resolved about whether it was a waste of time to include Barney Slough South in the Rollinson Channel and Silver Lake maintenance dredging project the Corps is planning for the fall. Other channels included in the project were Sloop North, the Hatteras Ferry Channel, and the Hatteras Connecting Channel. Last month, Coulter pointed out to Ronnie Smith with the Corps that the ferries don’t use Barney or the Ferry channels.

Peele, with the Ferry Division, reiterated to the Waterway Commission that the Ferry Division considers that Barney Slough was not worth dredging, and had communicated that in a recent meeting with the Corps.

“We told them even if you clean it out, it’s going to fill right in,” Peele said.

But after Monday’s meeting, Grover said that the Corps informed him that it has decided it will not dredge Barney Slough or the Hatteras Ferry Channel after all. Instead, in addition to Sloop Channel North, they will dredge the Hatteras Connecting Channel and Rollinson Channel.

“They are reconfiguring their proposed channels to be dredged,” Grover said, adding that the Corps will now maintain the route that the Ferry Division had requested.  “And that is the one that vehicular ferries have been using for several months now. That’s the one the passenger ferry always has used.

“So that’ll be good for the Ferry Division. And it’s good for the charter fishing fleet, because there is some shoaling when you leave the breakwater.”

This story is provided courtesy of the Island Free Press, a digital newspaper covering Hatteras and Ocracoke islands. Coastal Review partners with the Free Press to provide readers with more environmental and lifestyle stories of interest along our coast. 

The North Carolina Department of Transportation is temporarily suspending the Currituck-Knotts Island ferry route over the next several days while the fender systems at both terminals are replaced and repaired.

The route is to resume service the weekend of June 28-29. Service is scheduled to fully resume July 3, the state agency’s Ferry Division announced Wednesday.

The fender system includes the rubber materials installed on terminal pilings to protect boats and pilings while vessels are docking.

For real-time text or email updates on weather or mechanical delays, sign up for the Ferry Information Notification System at www.ncdot.gov/fins. 

After a delay, the two vehicle ferry routes that cross Pamlico Sound to Ocracoke are now operating on the previously announced summer schedule.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division announced earlier this week the increase in trips for the Cedar Island-Ocracoke ferry and the Swan Quarter-Ocracoke ferry.

NCDOT in May alerted travelers that moving to the expanded schedule as planned on May 20 had been postponed while Army Corps of Engineers dredged Bigfoot Slough, the ferry channel near the village’s Silver Lake Harbor.

On Tuesday, ferries on the two routes began adhering to the following schedule:

• Cedar Island-Ocracoke: 7:30 a.m., 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
• Ocracoke-Cedar Island: 7:30 a.m., 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
• Swan Quarter-Ocracoke: 7 a.m., 10 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
• Ocracoke-Swan Quarter: 7 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 12:45 p.m. and 3:45 p.m.

During the busy season, officials strongly recommend reservations, which can be made online at www.ncferry.org, or on the phone at 1-800-BY-FERRY.

The village is only accessible by boat or private airplane.

There are two ways to reach Ocracoke from Hatteras: the Ocracoke Express passenger ferry or the Hatteras-Ocracoke vehicle ferry. The express ferry takes reservations, the Hatteras vehicle ferry does not.

For real-time text or email updates on weather or mechanical delays, sign up for the Ferry Information Notification System at www.ncdot.gov/fins. 

Pamlico Sound ferry routes linking the two mainland terminals and Ocracoke Village will remain on its spring schedule of six daily departures until a dredging project planned for the end of this month is complete.

North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division officials said Tuesday that the Army Corps of Engineers had scheduled the emergency project because of shoaling in the Bigfoot Slough ferry channel near the village’s Silver Lake Harbor.

“Our boats are ready, our crews are ready, but the Bigfoot Slough channel is too shallow and narrow to operate our largest ferries safely there right now,” Ferry Division Director Jed Dixon said in a release.

The Corps is responsible for maintaining the channel and has scheduled the emergency dredging project to begin in late May. Weather permitting, the project is expected to take about a week to complete, according to NCDOT.

Once the channel is considered safe, both the Cedar Island-Ocracoke and Swan Quarter-Ocracoke routes will expand from their spring schedules of six daily departures to their summer schedules of eight daily departures.

Officials had initially planned to adopt the expanded summer schedules May 20.

For real-time text or email updates on weather or mechanical delays, sign up for the Ferry Information Notification System at www.ncdot.gov/fins. 

The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Ocracoke Express passenger ferry is scheduled next week to launch its seventh season.

Beginning Tuesday, the 129-passenger Ocracoke Express Ferry will carry passengers between Ocracoke’s Silver Lake Harbor and Hatteras. The ferry ride across Pamlico Sound takes about 70 minutes. Officials said the service will stop Sept. 15.

“Passenger surveys have shown us that the Express is an extremely popular option for day trips to Ocracoke,” Ferry Division Director Jed Dixon said in a release Thursday. “It’s the easiest and most convenient way to spend a day on Ocracoke Island.”

For 2025, the passenger ferry is scheduled to make a total of eight departures a day on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, which officials said are busier days. Trips from Hatteras are to leave at 8:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 1:45 p.m. and 5 p.m., and return trips from Ocracoke are at 9:45 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 3.p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Departures from Hatteras on Friday, Saturday and Sunday are scheduled for 9:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., with return trips from Ocracoke at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. No passenger ferry service will be available on Sundays.

Once on Ocracoke, visitors can walk, bike or use Hyde County’s free Ocracoke Village Tram to travel between businesses and other points of interest.

The fare is $15 for a round-trip ticket, with children under 3 riding for free, and an additional $1 to bring a bicycle on board.

Reservations are available 90 days in advance for the passenger verry and highly recommended during the busy summer season. Travelers can make reservations online at www.ncferry.org, or on the phone at 1-800-BY-FERRY.

The Hatteras-Ocracoke vehicle ferry route will continue running 52 scheduled departures at no charge everyday between Hatteras and the north end of Ocracoke Island. No reservations are accepted on the Hatteras vehicle ferry.

For real-time text or email updates on weather or mechanical delays, sign up for the Ferry Information Notification System at www.ncdot.gov/fins. 

Marvin Nelson routinely takes the state commuter ferry across the Neuse River with whatever scrap metal he’s gathered up to cash in at the recycling center closest to his Arapahoe home.

The 72-year-old hops the Cherry Branch-Minnesott ferry, a roughly 15-minute ride one-way, once or twice a day to get to Foss Recycling in Havelock.

For Nelson, scrapping is a source of income, wages he says will take a hit if he can no longer take the ferry for free.

That’s a prospect he faces after the North Carolina Senate last week approved its proposed $66 million budget, one that includes tacking on tolls for all North Carolina Department of Transportation ferry routes and raising rates at those where tolls already exist.

“That has got people around here all shook up,” Nelson said.

And it has drawn the immediate rebuke of local government officials representing the areas in which these ferries are operated.

“We here consider (the ferry) incorporated into the taxes that we have already paid every single year,” said Pamlico County Commissioner Ken Heath. “That’s the way it’s been since the early ’70s is that our tax money has gone to support all the highways in North Carolina, including our highway that stretches across the river, which is exactly what the ferry is. It’s our highway. We see that as a shared cost across the state.”

But some lawmakers, including Republican Sen. Vickie Sawyer of Mooresville, argue that the revenue the additional tolls would generate is needed to bolster state transportation department funds.

“In an era when we are fighting for every dollar we can for all types of transportation, collecting revenue from tourists using our ferries is a logical step,” Sawyer, co-chair of the Senate appropriations committee for transportation, told the Raleigh News & Observer last week.

And while well over half of Ocracoke-Hatteras ferry riders are tourists, locals depend on ferry service to access things like medical specialists and other services not available on Ocracoke, island resident Randal Mathews said.

The Hyde County commissioner was riding the Ocracoke-Hatteras ferry, returning from a dental appointment, when he was reached by telephone last Wednesday.

“It’s typical of what people of Ocracoke have to do,” he said. “We have to travel. I ride (this ferry) all the time. We can’t pay $40 round-trip for every trip to Hatteras.”

In a text he sent Coastal Review the day following the telephone interview, Mathews reiterated that ferry tolls “will create hardship for all residents.”

“I’m afraid the vendor that removes our solid waste will not serve us after a toll is added,” he said. “Any politician who supports tolling to Ocracoke is making a terrible mistake and is certainly not interested in economic development in eastern North Carolina.”

Under the Senate proposal, vehicles less than 20 feet long would be charged $20. The toll for larger vehicles would be $40 and passengers would be charged $1.

NCDOT would charge vehicles that provide commercial goods and services an annual fee of $150, which would cover priority boarding. Commuters would be charged the same $150 annual fee for a commuter boarding pass. “Only one annual pass per vehicle shall be issued per year,” the budget states.

That would apply to all four car ferries that are currently free, including the Cherry Branch-Minnesott and Aurora-Bayview ferries, whose users are largely commuters — workers at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point and employees of the Nutrien phosphate mine in Aurora.

“We have one ferry that goes from Pamlico to Craven (counties) and it’s used by a lot of people who work at Cherry Point, which is obviously a major employer of our county and so, without question, we are not in favor of tolls on the ferry,” Craven County Commissioner Chair Denny Bucher said. “Our DOT highways, the people don’t pay to ride on the highways, except for one spot in the Raleigh area, but they don’t pay to drive on highways and I don’t think they should have to pay to cross a river that happens to be between them and their employment.”

Vehicles 20 feet and under would be charged $5 to ride the Cherry Branch-Minnesott ferry. The price would double for vehicles greater than 20 feet.

The toll for the Aurora-Bayview ferry across the Pamlico River would be slightly less, with vehicles 20 feet or less paying $3, and those over 20 feet paying $6. Passenger riders would be charged $1.

Riders of the now-free-of-charge Currituck-Knotts Island ferry across the Currituck Sound would be charged $3 for vehicles 20 feet or shorter and double that for longer vehicles. Passengers would be a $1 toll.

Fees would double for riders of the Ocracoke Express, the passenger-only ferry, to $15 per person, and for riders of the Cedar Island-Ocracoke and Swan Quarter-Ocracoke ferries across the Pamlico Sound to $30 for vehicles 20 feet and under and $60 for those over 20 feet. Passengers would be charged $2.

Those who pay a vehicle toll would not be required to pay separate passenger tolls for occupants of that vehicle.

The Senate also proposes increasing tolls on the ferry that runs between Fort Fisher and Southport across the Cape Fear River to $10 for vehicles 20 or less, $20 for longer vehicles, and $2 for passengers.

History repeating

Heath said that, though he was led to believe the issue of ferry tolls would not be forthcoming this year, he is not surprised.

Tolling all ferry systems has been an on-again, off-again discussion stretching back to 2011. Since then, including the latest round of ferry toll talks in 2023, local outcry has halted further implementation of toll fees.

“Our population is nowhere near that of Goldsboro-west, and those areas can attract industry due to the large population,” Heath said. “We’re very sparse here so you’re penalizing us and what little bit of economic positives come out of the ferry. There’s a slight attraction for people to come ride, but it’s minor. For our area, tolls will kill that. It’s a negative for us all the way around. Everybody is pulling together and digging in to fight this till it’s taken off.”

Rep. Keith Kidwell, the Republican representing District 79, which includes Pamlico, Hyde, Beaufort and Dare counties, said in an email that he will fight ferry tolls.

“I will again work against ferry tolls,” he said. “Unless of course they want to toll all bridges that cross water in NC.”

Rep. John Torbett, a Republican from Gaston County, also spoke in opposition of the proposed tolls.

“Dear Eastern and all NC friends. Once again the Senate Transportation leaders intend to toll all ferries,” he recently posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “This will cost North Carolinians who have to use the ferries to go to school, work, doctor, pretty much anywhere. The revenue/tax/user fee is not enough to cover much of anything, and it is not worth it for North Carolinians. Standard revenue sources are enough to cover cost.”

Sen. Norm Sanderson, R-Pamlico and also a representative of Carteret, Chowan, Dare, Hyde, Pasquotank, Perquimans and Washington counties, co-sponsored the budget bill. He did not respond to a request for comment.

Sen. Bobby Hanig, R-Currituck, voted against the budget. He did not respond to a request for comment.

“An important link’

A 2020 analysis by North Carolina State University’s Institute for Transportation Research and Education found that North Carolina’s ferry system facilitates more than $735 million in gross business sales and generates more than $32 million in tax revenue.

The ferry system also provides to passengers vehicle cost savings of $18.1 million, $13.9 million in travel time benefits, and $8.3 million in safety benefits, according to the report.

“Furthermore, based on responses collected by the research team, the N.C. Ferry system is an important link connecting residents to work, medical, school, shopping and other destinations on the coast. Ultimately, the N.C. Ferry System is a source of job creation, local revenue and tax creation that benefits the coast and the state. It provides economic and quality-of-life benefits for its ferry passengers accessing communities along the state’s extensive coastline.”

Ferry tolls would “take a lot out of my profit,” Nelson said. Driving his old pickup truck on the all-road alternative route would cost him more gas and time.

“Good gracious in the morning, it would take me half-an-hour to go around to Havelock,” he said.

With the beginning of spring, state transportation officials have added ferry runs between Ocracoke and the mainland terminals at Cedar Island and Swan Quarter.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation Ferry Division will increase the number of daily trips across Pamlico Sound from four to six, beginning this week.

The following is the schedule Tuesday through May 19:

• Ocracoke to Cedar Island: 7:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
• Cedar Island to Ocracoke: 7:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
• Ocracoke to Swan Quarter: 7 a.m., 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
• Swan Quarter to Ocracoke: 10 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 4:30 p.m.

Reservations for Pamlico Sound ferry routes can be made up to 90 days in advance at ncferry.org or by calling 1-800-BY-FERRY.

For real-time text or email notifications on schedule adjustments and other ferry information, sign up for the Ferry Information Notification System at www.ncdot.gov/fins.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division will begin recruiting new employees during the five career fairs the agency has planned.

The first is set for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday in the Ocracoke Island Community Center, 999 Irvin Garrish Highway.

“With three of our seven routes serving Ocracoke Island, it is so important to have local employee representation,” Ferry Human Resources Manager Lori Sanderlin said Tuesday in a release. “The main purpose of this event is to give Ocracoke residents an opportunity to join our crew and be a vital part of their community and the state.”

The remaining career fairs are scheduled for Feb. 5 at Big Rock Career Center in Morehead City, Feb. 12 at College of the Albemarle in Manteo, Feb. 21 at Southport Ferry Terminal, and Feb. 26 at Beaufort County Community College in Washington.

Representatives will be on hand to accept applications, resumes, references and supporting documents for all positions. Examples include entry-level parking lot attendants, office staff, maintenance and credentialed vessel crew. Both temporary and full-time permanent positions are available.

Benefits of permanent employment include competitive salaries, training and credential/certification increases, health insurance, retirement benefits, and paid vacation, holiday and sick leave, according to NCDOT.

Vendors wanting priority loading on the state-run ferry traveling between Hatteras and Ocracoke Island will need to purchase individual priority passes for each vehicle.

The General Assembly passed a new law during the 2024 session that now requires each vendor vehicle traveling between Hatteras and Ocracoke to have a priority pass. Previously, multiple vehicles from the same vendor could share a single pass.

Cost is $150 per pass. Applications are available on the Ferry Division website.

Permanent residents of Ocracoke Island are eligible for a free priority pass to place on the driver-side windshield. Applicants must apply in person at the Ocracoke Silver Lake Terminal, 130 Pilot Town Circle. A valid driver license and a vehicle registration card that both have an Ocracoke address are required.

Four ferry routes will follow an adjusted schedule on Christmas, a traditionally low-ridership day.

The Hatteras-Ocracoke, Cherry Branch-Minnesott Beach, Bayview-Aurora and Southport-Fort Fisher routes will follow the adjusted schedule on Dec. 25, North Carolina Department of Transportation officials said Friday.

The Hatteras-Ocracoke route will be on an alternate schedule on Christmas Eve as well.

All other ferries will follow regular schedules​ over the Christmas holidays.

Hatteras-Ocracoke route Dec. 24:

• From Hatteras: 5 a.m., 6 a.m., 7 a.m., 8 a.m., 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m., 4 p.m., 6 p.m., 9 p.m., midnight.
• From Ocracoke: 4:30 a.m., 6:30 a.m., 7:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 10:30 p.m.

Hatteras-Ocracoke route Dec. 25:

• From Hatteras: 5 a.m., 6 a.m., 8 a.m., 9 a.m., 11 a.m., noon, 2 a.m., 3 a.m., 6 a.m., 9 a.m., midnight.
• From Ocracoke: 4:30 a.m., 6:30 a.m., 7:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 10:30 p.m.

Cherry Branch-Minnesott Beach route Dec. 25:

• From Cherry Branch: 5 a.m., 5:45 a.m., 6:45 a.m., 7:45 a.m., 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 11 a.m., noon, 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 8:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.
• From Minnesott Beach: 5:25 a.m., 6:15 a.m., 7:15 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m., 4 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m., 7 p.m., 8 p.m., 9 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Bayview-Aurora route Dec. 25:

• From Bayview: 8:45 a.m., 11 a.m., 2 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 5:40 p.m.
• From Aurora: 10:15 a.m., 11:45 a.m., 2:45 p.m., 5 p.m., and 6:15 p.m.

Southport-Fort Fisher route Dec. 25:

• From Southport: 5:30 a.m., 7 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m., 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.
• From Fort Fisher: 6:15 a.m., 7:45 a.m., 9:15 a.m., 10:45 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 1:45 p.m., 3:15 p.m. and 4:45 p.m.

Published jointly with Island Free Press

MANTEO — If there is a hurricane on the Outer Banks that renders Hatteras Island’s only highway impassable, the emergency channel between the island at Rodanthe to the Dare County mainland at Stumpy Point currently would not be accessible for ferries to provide supplies or evacuations.

“This needs to be very clear to our county commissioners,” said Ernie Foster, a Dare County Waterways Commission member, during the panel’s meeting Monday evening. “Emergency operations right now do not exist and (it’s) hurricane season.”

Foster, a Hatteras charter boat captain, made a motion to inform the Dare County Board of Commissioners that the emergency channel is not an option until a shoaled area in the Rodanthe Harbor basin is cleared. The commission approved the motion.

“There is no planned project right now with the Corps for Rodanthe,” said Catherine Peele, interim assistant director of marine asset management planning and development manager with the North Carolina Ferry Division, who spoke remotely to the commission.

The Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for maintenance of federal channels in the county’s inlets and waterways.

The Ferry Division is concerned that the shallow, shoaled area in the Rodanthe basin makes it too dangerous for ferry travel, creating risk of expensive damage to the vessels and danger to the operators and passengers. Although the remainder of the federal channel in the emergency route is navigable, that bad spot creates a controlling depth that renders the route inaccessible.

In a later interview, Peele said the Ferry Division and the county are working together “to see how we can overcome the challenge” of the Corps not being able to dredge in Rodanthe.

Meanwhile, she added, the division continues to do test runs with ferries at least twice a year in the state-owned Stumpy Point approach channel and basin and, so far, have been able to get in every year.

“So, we have been monitoring conditions,” she said. “We’re OK. We did a contract project in the basin a few years ago.”

Still, Peele added, the state is looking proactively at all its options to see if a project needs to be contracted, or if the division needs to schedule to do the project itself later this year. The division is also talking with the Corps and the county about the amount of available capacity for dredged material disposal in Stumpy Point.

A recent survey found that a relatively small area in the Rodanthe basin has only about 5 feet of water, Todd Horton, chief of the Corps’ waterways management section, speaking remotely, told the commissioners. Ferries require at least 5.5 feet of water.

A similar problem developed in 2018, when removal of shoaling was stymied because there was not adequate space available to dispose of the dredged material in Rodanthe. Dare County, which is responsible for maintaining dredged material disposal sites in the county, subsequently made repairs that addressed the capacity issue.

Fortunately, there has been no need in recent years for the backup evacuation route, but the channel is doing no one any good if some spots are too shallow for ferries to use when it is needed, said commission chairman Steve “Creature” Coulter.

“It’s a federal channel going into Rodanthe that we use for emergency operations,” he said, noting that the county does not have the authority to maintain it.

As another example of overlapping jurisdictional issues on the Outer Banks, clear passage through the emergency channel depends on the federal, state and county governments doing their respective parts, whether dredging the channel, building and repairing disposal areas, providing funds or doing channel surveys.

The state is responsible for the basin and an estimated 1,200-foot-long approach channel in Stumpy Point Harbor, and the federal government is responsible for the rest of the channel in Stumpy Point and all of the channel and the basin on the Rodanthe side. The county provides disposal sites for the dredged material, and a share of nonfederal funds to the Corps for projects.

An emergency transportation route was created in 2009 by the North Carolina Department of Transportation, which oversees the Ferry Division, to bypass washed-out N.C. Highway 12 in Mirlo Beach at Rodanthe’s north end. Ferry terminals were created in Rodanthe in 2001 and in Stumpy Point in 2002, and both were upgraded in 2013.

Emergency ferry service was implemented after Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012, as well as in 2013 when the aged Bonner Bridge was closed for safety reasons. Before the service was available, islanders were cut off from the world for weeks in November 2000 after a storm-tossed barge struck and severely damaged the bridge. And after Hurricane Isabel in 2003 destroyed part of N.C. 12 south of Frisco, ferries brought supplies to the island from Stumpy Point to Hatteras village.

Horton said that the Corps has $316,000 in nonfederal funds transferred by the county remaining from 2019, but he did not elaborate on when or if a project could be done in Rodanthe.

Joen Petersen, the Corps’ chief of floating plants, said in a later interview that the recent survey showed that 602 cubic yards would have to be removed from the shoaled area just outside the channel basin in Rodanthe to bring the channel to project depth of 6 feet.

Petersen said that the remainder of the channel on the Rodanthe side is sufficiently deep. Although he confirmed that there is no scheduled work at this time at the shoaled area in Rodanthe, he said that the Corps is in the process of planning a dredge project in the federal channel in Stumpy Point.

Information was not immediately available from the Corps, the state or the county to clarify when the Rodanthe channel was last dredged. But in general, the emergency channel has been dredged on an “as-needed” basis, Barton Grover, the Waterways Commission administrator, said in a later interview.  And in last year’s survey, it showed a 6-foot depth, which the Corps said did not require attention.

Considering that the most recent survey showed only 5 feet in Rodanthe — a foot shallower than the federally authorized depth of 6 feet — the Corps may change its assessment about doing a project, Grover said, adding that discussions are still in early stages.

While the agencies and the county continue to work toward a solution, the reality for the time being is that, with warnings of a potentially bad hurricane season swirling in the background, the just-in-case fallback for a transportation option on and off Hatteras Island is not going to be available.

The ferry service would still do its best to provide a workaround, Peele said.

“If there was an emergency,” she said, “we would do a test run from Hatteras to Stumpy Point to see if that’s a viable option for an emergency route.”

The North Carolina Department of Transportation Ferry Division is officially under new leadership, but the man in charge has been at the helm for some time.

John E. “Jed” Dixon, of Manteo, who has been with the division for 21 years, moved Friday from his role as interim director to director.

Dixon replaces previous director Harold Thomas​, who retired in July after serving in the position since 2011. Dixon, who became interim director in August, has been division’s deputy director since 2012.

“I’m honored to be offered this opportunity,” Dixon said Friday in a statement. “I’ve been with the division a long time, so I know just how important the Ferry Division is to the people in this area. I’m happy to be stepping into this role so I can put my experience to use, providing the best service we can for all our customers.”

Dixon will oversee the operation of 23 ferries and about 400 full-time and 100 seasonal workers. The Ferry Division operates seven year-round routes across the Currituck and Pamlico sounds, the Cape Fear, Neuse and Pamlico rivers and Hatteras Inlet, as well as a seasonal passenger ferry route between Hatteras and Ocracoke.

Dixon, 48, has laid out priorities including improvements to the system’s efficiency, while maintaining routes and dependable service for the commuters, tourists and others who rely upon the state ferries.

Dixon said he’s also a strong believer in advocating for the division staff.

“Our employees can expect to get a supportive leader who will make sure we are a professional organization and that everyone will have the tools to do their jobs successfully,” Dixon said.

Julie White, NCDOT’s deputy secretary for multimodal transportation, said that she chose Dixon for his institutional knowledge and experience.

“Jed has a keen understanding of the challenges facing the system including recruiting, developing and retaining a strong workforce, maintaining our vessels, facilities, and shore side assets, and keeping our routes safe and operable amidst many environmental challenges,” White said. “He has great vision for the future of the division and the investments needed to fulfill our mission of robust, reliable service.”

Dixon has a bachelor’s in marine transportation from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York. Aside from his time with the Ferry Division, Dixon has worked as a general contractor and was the captain of an offshore supply boat supporting oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

Transportation officials are adding more round trips to the Cedar Island-Ocracoke and Swan Quarter-Ocracoke ferry schedules.  

The North Carolina Department of Transportation announced Monday that the schedule will be the following starting Tuesday:   

• Cedar Island to Ocracoke: 7:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 4:30 p.m.
• Ocracoke to Cedar Island: 7:30 a.m., 1 p.m., 4:30 p.m.
• Swan Quarter to Ocracoke: 10 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m.
• Ocracoke to Swan Quarter: 7 a.m., 10 a.m., 1:30 p.m.

The schedule for all of the North Carolina state ferries can be found on the NCDOT website.

Officials recommend making reservations during the spring. Travelers can make reservations online or on the phone at 1-800-BY-FERRY.  

For real-time text or email updates on weather or mechanical delays, sign up for the Ferry Information Notification System at www.ncdot.gov/fins.

With the onset of warmer weather and longer daylight hours, the North Carolina Department of Transportation Ferry System is adding runs effective Tuesday.

Five of the system’s regular routes are changing to expanded schedules, as the ferry system ramps up for its busier spring and summer service, officials said.

The following changes were announced:

• Currituck-Knotts Island will go from six to 10 daily departures.
• Hatteras-Ocracoke will go from 24 to 52 daily departures, pending the reopening of N.C. Highway 12 on Ocracoke Island.
• Aurora-Bayview will go from 10 to 14 daily departures.
• Cherry Branch-Minnesott Beach will go from 48 to 56 daily departures.
• Southport-Fort Fisher will go from 28 to 32 weekday departures, but will remain at 28 on weekends.

Division officials said the two Pamlico Sound routes — Cedar Island-Ocracoke and Swan Quarter-Ocracoke — will maintain their current schedules until an Army Corps of Engineers dredging project in Bigfoot Slough is complete. Once the channel is cleared, those routes will expand from four daily departures to six.

A full ferry schedule is online.

For real time text or email notifications on schedule adjustments and other ferry information, sign up for the Ferry Information Notification System at www.ncdot.gov/fins.

Ferries taking passengers between Cedar Island, Swan Quarter and Ocracoke are on an alternate schedule as of Monday due to critical shoaling issues in the ferry channel just outside of Ocracoke’s Silver Lake Harbor.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division announced Monday the following schedule change:

• Ocracoke to Cedar Island: 7:30 a.m., 1 p.m.
• Cedar Island to Ocracoke: 10:30 a.m., 4:30 p.m.
• Ocracoke to Swan Quarter: 7 a.m., 1:30 p.m.
• ​​​Swan Quarter to Ocracoke: 10 a.m., 4:30 p.m.

The Army Corps of Engineers’ contractor Cottrell Dredging is to use the Dredge Lexington in the Bigfoot Slough channel to clear the shoaling, but dredging operations are dependent on weather and tides.

Once water depths in the ferry channel return to acceptable levels, the Ferry Division plans to resume its regular schedule on both routes.

After several weeks of adjusted schedules and a dredge project just outside the Ocracoke-Silver Lake Terminal to alleviate shoaling, ferries that cross the Pamlico Sound to Ocracoke resumed full summer schedules Friday.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ dredge Merritt began work June 17 in Bigfoot Slough. Shoaling in that area made the ferry channel too shallow to safely operate the division’s largest vessels. The dredge project took about two weeks, state Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division officials said.

The following is the full summer schedule:

• Cedar Island-Ocracoke: 8 a.m., 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
• Ocracoke-Cedar Island: 7:30 a.m., 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
• Swan Quarter-Ocracoke: 7 a.m., 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
• Ocracoke-Swan Quarter: 7 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:45 p.m. and 3:45 p.m.

​Officials highly recommended travelers make reservations during the busy summer season either online at www.ncferry.org, or by phone at 1-800-BY-FERRY.

Real-time updates on weather or mechanical delays on the Cedar Island and Swan Quarter routes can be found on the Twitter feed @NCFerryPamSound.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division oversees the ferry system’s seven routes and 21 ferries.

Weather packing wind gusts up to 30 mph has made travel unsafe in the Pamlico Sound, forcing North Carolina Department of Transportation to cancel ferry departures on Friday to Ocracoke Island from Swan Quarter and Cedar Island.

In addition, state ferry schedules could change this weekend due to a strong storm with heavy rain and winds that is forecast for eastern North Carolina, NCDOT officials said Friday.

The following departures between Ocracoke and Swan Quarter and Ocracoke and Cedar Island have been canceled for Friday:

• Ocracoke-Swan Quarter: 10 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
• Ocracoke-Cedar Island: 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Ferry schedules will resume when it’s safe to do so.

Travelers wishing to use a ferry should stay tuned to NCDOT on social media for updates.

Pamlico Sound ferry routes between the mainland and Ocracoke returned to a full schedule Wednesday after being reduced to two runs for most of this month because of shoaling in the ferry channel outside Ocracoke Harbor.

A test run with the M/V Swan Quarter Tuesday showed that the Army Corps of Engineers’ dredging efforts opened ferry channel depths and widths in Bigfoot Slough, allowing safe passage for all of the state’s ferries, officials with the N.C. Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division said Tuesday.

Ferries between the mainland and Ocracoke will continue to run on a reduced schedule until Monday.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division extended the altered schedule on Pamlico Sound between Cedar Island, Swan Quarter and Ocracoke through Monday while the Army Corps of Engineers continues 24-hour dredging to combat shoaling issues in the ferry channel just outside Ocracoke’s Silver Lake Harbor.

Shoaling occurs when sand and sediment fill into a ferry channel, making water depths too shallow and the channel too narrow for safe operation of the ferry system’s largest vessels.

The Corps has two dredges, Murden and Merritt, working together in Bigfoot Slough channel to perform 24-hour dredging. On Monday, the Ferry Division will make a test run in the channel with its largest vessel, the M/V Swan Quarter. If water depths and channel widths are at acceptable levels, the ferry division will resume its regular schedule on both routes Tuesday, according to NCDOT.

The schedule was first reduced from three to two ferry runs per day March 26 and again April 1, then April 5. The ferry was suspended completely from April 8 to April 12, all due to shoaling in the ferry channel just outside of Ocracoke’s Silver Lake Harbor. Two ferry runs resumed April 13.

For up-to-the-minute information on schedule changes on the Cedar Island and Swan Quarter routes, please follow @NCFerryPamSound​ on Twitter.

With the return of the M/V Silver Lake from its required dry dock period, the North Carolina Ferry Division was able to resume Sunday a two-boat schedule on its routes between Cedar Island, Ocracoke and Swan Quarter.

Because of shoaling issues in the ferry channel outside of Ocracoke’s Silver Lake Harbor, daily service will be reduced by one trip each way on the Pamlico Sound between Ocracoke and both Cedar Island and Swan Quarter until further notice.

The state Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division announced Wednesday the following schedule that will start Thursday:

• Cedar Island to Ocracoke: 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
• Ocracoke to Cedar Island:  7:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.
• Swan Quarter to Ocracoke:  10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
• Ocracoke to Swan Quarter:  7 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

Reservation holders whose trips are affected by the change will be notified by email or phone.

The latest survey by the Army Corps of Engineers shows water depths in Bigfoot Slough near Ocracoke as low as 8 feet, which means the ferry system’s two largest sound-class vessels, the Swan Quarter and the Sea Level, cannot cross the area safely.

The ferry channel in Bigfoot Slough is a federally maintained channel, meaning that any dredging that occurs must be performed by the Army Corps of Engineers. The Ferry Division has notified the Corps of the critical need for dredging in the area, according to NCDOT.

OCRACOKE – The North Carolina Department of Transportation Ferry Division announced Sunday an alternate schedule for the Pamlico Sound Ferry due to the current emergency restrictions in place for visiting for Ocracoke Island.

The alternate schedule for its Cedar Island-Ocracoke and Swan Quarter-Ocracoke routes began Monday.

The schedule will be as follows:

• Swan Quarter to Ocracoke: 7 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
• Ocracoke to Swan Quarter: 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
• Cedar Island to Ocracoke: 7 a.m. and 4 p.m.
• Ocracoke to Cedar Island: 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Visitors are reminded that Hyde County’s mandatory evacuation order for visitors remains in effect. Only residents, property owners, emergency workers, vendors and critical infrastructure personnel with Ocracoke re-entry documentation will be allowed onto Ocracoke-bound ferries. Law enforcement officers will be on hand at ferry terminals to enforce the re-entry restrictions.

The routes will resume their regular summer schedules when the emergency orders are lifted.