Ideas for easing chronic traffic jams get a hearing in Currituck

Ideas for easing chronic traffic jams get a hearing in Currituck

By Russ Lay on December 16, 2014

Transportation Board member Malcolm Fearing, foreground, confers with state Rep. Bob Steinburg. District 1 highway engineer Jerry Jennings is to their left. (Russ Lay photos)

Alternate routes, earlier separation of Duck- and Corolla-bound traffic in lower Currituck, improved timing of traffic signals and even a law enforcement presence at the U.S. 158/N.C. 12 intersection were among the ideas offered by state transportatuion officials and area residents at a public hearing Monday night.

Elected officials and North Carolina Department of Transportation representatives addressed a standing-room-only crowd at Jarvisburg Elementary School.

The topic was an oldie but goodie: Traffic snarls on summer weekends that stretch from Grandy south to the U.S. 158/N.C. 12 intersection in Kitty Hawk, and then north again through Southern Shores, Duck and Corolla.

But one topic was off the table — the Mid-Currituck Bridge, which officials and the public both agreed was a “solution” too distant to be discussed at the meeting.

Instead, NCDOT officials offered an update on current studies and possible solutions being considered. Later during a public comment and question-and-answer session, residents and business owners offered some of their ideas.

Currituck Commissioner Paul O’Neill said the purpose of the meeting was to brainstorm short-term and mid-term solutions to alleviate some of the traffic problems.

Malcolm Fearing, Board of Transportation District 1 representative, touched on the Mid-Currituck Bridge’s status being elevated through the support of the General Assembly and Gov. Pat McCrory. He noted region-wide support of as many as 10 Albemarle counties in helping elevate the funding and priority status of the bridge.

Transportation board member Malcolm Fearing.

Fearing then called on the crowd to help NCDOT develop short-term solutions and turned the meeting over to Jerry Jennings, chief engineer for NCDOT District 1, which includes 14 counties in northeastern North Carolina.

Jennings gave a short presentation, which divided analysis of the traffic problems into three major headings — traffic control, roadway improvements and behavioral changes of drivers using the crowded corridors on weekends.

One idea that drew significant crowd support was finding a way to segregate traffic into the left and right-hand lanes much further north in Currituck based on final destinations.

The idea involves encouraging drivers bound for N.C. 12 beaches in Southern Shores, Duck and Corolla to use the left southbound lane of U.S. 158, perhaps as early as north of Grandy, and stay in that lane the entire time.

Tourists and residents heading for Kitty Hawk, KDH, Nags Head and Hatteras would be routed into the right lane.

The idea is to free up last-minute lane changes that snarl traffic before the U.S. 158/N.C. 12 intersection.

Some members of the audience even suggested barriers to separate the two southbound 158 lanes in lower Currituck to force drivers to choose the correct lane.

Many of the problems can be traced to the U.S. 158/N.C. 12 intersection in Kitty Hawk.

Jennings said planners are looking hard at having a law enforcement presence at that intersection to prevent vehicles from blocking the intersection during green light phases on U.S. 158, which essentially shuts down northbound traffic tyring to leave the Outer Banks on weekends.

Audience members suggested banning left-hand turns from U.S. 158 onto Dogwood Trail in Southern Shores, and turning off the traffic light just east of the crowded intersection that routes traffic onto N.C. 12 south. When that light turns red, it exacerbates the backup onto U.S. 158 and contributes to the blocking of the intersection.

Asked about the possibility of three lanes on N.C. 12 heading north, including using two reversible lanes on turnover days, Jennings cited right-of-way issues. He noted a major reason for the backup was the huge number of driveways, curb cuts and parking lot entries along the route, including tourists turning across lanes that come to a complete stop while waiting for a break in traffic to complete the turn.

A second idea that was well-received involved educating drivers coming from points north into taking one of three different routes to the Outer Banks, particularly if their destinations are Ocracoke, Hatteras, Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills.

These routes include drivers from northern states making a decision as early as Richmond to stay on I-95 to Rocky Mount, and then take U.S. 64 east to the Outer Banks.

Visitors from Hampton Roads could either take U.S. 460 to U.S.17 south, or turn west in Sligo through Elizabeth City, eventually working their way to U.S. 17, then N.C. 32 south, which would bring them to U.S. 64 just west of Columbia.

Jennings estimated that the three routes would add roughly 45 to 50 minutes of travel time, far shorter than the 60-minute-plus wait many experience waiting to cross the Wright Memorial Bridge.

This idea would take a major educational effort involving the North Carolina and Virginia departments of transportation, vacation rental companies and the tourism boards of both counties.

One final idea which we will explore in more detail in a different article was floated by Realtor David Hoare and Captain Stuart Wescott, which would involve allowing cars to uaw a large parking lot along U.S. 158.

From there, they would be bused to a dock on the Currituck mainland, ferried to Corolla and bused to their cottages, and making a return trip later Saturday night when traffic clears to retrieve their cars.

A reverse process would occur for checkouts, where cars would be packed on Friday night, left on the Currituck mainland, with drivers ferried back to Corolla on Friday, and brought back to the mainland by water taxi to the loaded car on Saturday.

Other ideas mentioned by NCDOT were moving more weekend vacations to a Sunday-Sunday schedule to alleviate Saturday traffic and asking vacation rental companies to use technology to allow visitors to drive directly to their cottages without an in-person check-in stop at the various rental company offices.

Elected officials attending included the entire Currituck Board of Commissioners, Tom Bennet, mayor of Southern Shores, and Southern Shores Town Manager Peter Rascoe, Duck Mayor Pro-tempore Monica Thibodeau, state Reps. Bob Steinburg and Paul Tine, and Jordan Hennessey of state Sen. Bill Cook’s office.

Cook was unable to attend as he was recovering from knee surgery.