Wednesday, December 4, 2013 - 16:46 Press Release

The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division’s emergency route between Stumpy Point and Rodanthe went into full operation Wednesday, with steady traffic and short-to-moderate wait times reported at both terminals.

In order to ease congestion on the emergency route and allow extra access between Ocracoke and the mainland, the Ferry Division has added an additional round-trip run on Pamlico Sound between Ocracoke and Swan Quarter. The new schedule, effective immediately, is as follows:

Departing Ocracoke: 7 a.m, 10 a.m, 12:30 p.m.

Departing Swan Quarter: 10a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m.

In addition, Dare County Emergency Management has issued its emergency route priority loading list to the Ferry Division. The following vehicles will be given priority loading in Stumpy Point and Rodanthe:

Dare Transport vehicles with labels on the door
People with documented medical appointments
FedEx, UPS, and US Postal Service Vehicles
Maintenace vehicles for onsite restroom facilities
Medical transport for pharmaceuticals
School buses for school events

Also, fuel trucks will have designated runs on Tuesdays and Fridays from Stumpy Point at 5 a.m. and from Rodanthe at 4:30 p.m. This will allow more deck space for regular vehicles on the other runs.

The emergency route was activated Tuesday after NCDOT closed the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge for safety reasons. The Ferry Division will continue to monitor traffic on the route to determine if any additional runs are needed.