The Jug Handle Bridge should have a ribbon cutting ceremony sometime this month. That’s the bridge that will bypass the S Curves just north of Rodanthe on Hatteras Island, a section of road that is subject to constant overwash and flooding from the ocean.
There’s tendency to think of bridges only as a way to move traffic from point A to point A, and certainly when everything is all said and done, that’s what they do. But in the case of the Jug Handle Bridge it actually has a secondary purpose that is almost as important as a way for cars to get to Hatteras Island and Ocracoke.
The bridge will also carry the power and communication link between Hatteras Island and the northern Outer Banks, which allows those lines to link with mainland lines.
As the bridge has been nearing completion, there was a bit of kerfuffle and confusion—or maybe poor communication—between NCDOT and Cape Hatteras Electric Coop, the company that manages the power and communication lines for Hatteras island.
Even though the bridge is in Pamlico Sound, it’s location is mostly in Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, and to get the right of way for the bridge from USFW, NCDOT agreed to remove all protections and the roadbed from the S Curves as soon as the bridge opened for traffic.
The problem is the power and communication lines are still on telephone poles parallel to the road. Without the dunes and sandbags that anchor the dunes, there is no doubt that the ocean push right up to the power lines. Without the road, even if repair vehicles could get through the water, they would sink in the sand. Repairs would, which would be inevitable, would take extraordinary amounts of time to effect.
The company putting the new lines in on the bridge could not begin work until the construction was almost completed on the bridge project, so work did not begin until January and it will take the better part of this year to complete the work.
Luckily the powers that be recognized that this was a situation that needed to be addressed and the decision was made to delay the removal of the old road and its protections.
So much always seems to be happening on the Outer Banks. Stop by for a visit and see what it’s all about when staying in a Brindley Beach Vacations home, or visit Hatteras Vacation Rentals to book online!