North Carolina

[freebrickproductions]

Let NC greet all the new residents with neglected maintenance and thousands of county road signs riddled with buckshot and rural blight.

(Emphasis mine)

You act like that's really any different from literally any other state in the southeast, with maybe an exception for Florida.

[Mapmikey]

One thing NC is definitely doing, though may be a District thing:  Some large swaths of NC are no longer posting the SR 10xx routes on larger white rectangles.

Another is that the once ubiquitous white rectangle signs at most intersections with a distance to somewhere are quickly disappearing except in eastern NC.  Western NC used these to show road names or dead end road alerting, since many of the roads in the mountains don't go anywhere.

[fillup420]

One thing NC is definitely doing, though may be a District thing:  Some large swaths of NC are no longer posting the SR 10xx routes on larger white rectangles.

Another is that the once ubiquitous white rectangle signs at most intersections with a distance to somewhere are quickly disappearing except in eastern NC.  Western NC used these to show road names or dead end road alerting, since many of the roads in the mountains don't go anywhere.

I love the white distance markers, i wish they would make a comeback outside of the coastal plain. they are so simple yet effective.

 I also love the use of wooden posts for nearly all small signage down east (highway shields, speed limits, etc).

[Dirt Roads]

I've been distracted with home repair issues lately, so not surprised that I totally missed this news:

The budget passed by the North Carolina Legislature back on July 6, 2026 includes a provision that all NCDOT Ferry Division routes be tolled by January 1, 2027.  The budget legislation now mandates that the entirety of NCDOT Ferry Division toll revenues generate sufficient income to fund the replacement costs of NCDOT ferry vessels.

Currently, there are three free ferries in North Carolina:  NC-306 Cherry Branch -to- Minnesott Beach; NC-12 Hatteras -to- Ocracoke (east end of the island); and NC-45 Swan Quarter -to- Ocracoke (Silver Lake, the inlet lagoon on the west end of the island).  The latter service connects Ocracoke with the mainland portion of Hyde County.  Note that Ocracoke still has a K-12 primary school, which appears to be the smallest high school (G9-12) in the state.  Today's news indicates that the NCDOT Ferry Division also requires an annual $150 ferry pass for residents of twenty North Carolina counties.

I haven't been able to discern whether this mandate will also apply to the Hammocks Beach ferry, which is operated by the North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation (ergo, ferry access to this historically-Black beach which is now a popular State Park).

[Dirt Roads]

^^^
It appears that there three more tollfree ferries in North Carolina subject to the new tolling mandate as well:

• NC-211 Southport -to- Fort Fisher
• NC-306 Aurora -to- Bayview
• NC-615 Currituck -to- Knotts Island ferry

[dfilpus]

^^^
It appears that there three more tollfree ferries in North Carolina subject to the new tolling mandate as well:

• NC-211 Southport -to- Fort Fisher

Southport-Fort Fisher Ferry is not toll free.