Highway 12

North Carolina Highway 12

North Carolina Highway 12 constitutes a lengthy coastal route extending north from U.S. 70 at Sea Level to Cape Hatteras, Bodie Island, and Corolla. The state route utilizes ferry service to access both ends of Ocracoke Island.

The bulk of NC 12 across Ocracoke, Hatteras and Pea Islands navigates through Cape Hatteras National Seashore. North from Nags Head to Kill Devil Hills and Kitty Hawk, NC 12 travels through built up areas along the Atlantic Ocean on Virginia Dare Trail, the former route of U.S. 158. The route extends 21 miles north along Bodie Island, from the U.S. 158 western turn across Currituck Sound, to the community of Corolla.

Damage from Hurricane Irene on August 27, 2011 washed out several sections of NC 12 between Pimlico Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. New inlets created between the two bodies of water were as wide as 100 feet and deep as 8 feet. Ferry service was started to Hatteras due to the road closure.

A 662 foot long truss bridge was quickly built over one of the new inlets and opened by October 11, 2011, restoring access to Rodanthe, Salvo and Waves.1 Despite legal hurdles due to environmental concerns to 2016, the long term replacement project of the Oregon Inlet Bridge advanced.

The Bonner Bridge Replacement Project contructed a new 3,500 long high rise span across Oregon Inlet. Work on the $246 million project formally commenced on March 13, 2016 and the new span opened to traffic on February 25, 2019.

Overall construction, including the demolition of the old Herbert C. Bonner Bridge, ran through September 2019. A 1,000 foot long section of the old span was retained for use as a pedestrian walkway. The replacement bridge measures 2.8 miles in length and rises to a height of 90 feet above Oregon Inlet. The two lane crossing has eight foot shoulders in each direction.2

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the NC 12 bridge across Oregon Inlet took place on April 2, 2019, where the span was formally renamed the Marc Basnight Bridge. Basnight, a former state Senator representing Dare County from 1984 to 2011, was a staunch proponent for the replacement of the 1963-built Bonner Bridge. The renaming of the span was supported by the Dare County Board of Commissioners and officials from Kill Devil Hills, Manteo and Nags Head. The State Board of Transportation voted to rename the bridge on March 7, 2019.3

References:

  1. "State puts N.C. 12 back together." The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC), October 6, 2011.
  2. "New bridge over the Oregon Inlet opens to traffic." Ocracoke Observer (NC), February 25, 2019.
  3. "Ribbon-Cutting April 2 for Basnight Bridge." Coastal Review Online (Newport, NC), March 26, 2019.

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Page Updated Monday September 23, 2019.