THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 22, 1996 TAG: 9602220321
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WHALEBONE JUNCTION LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Just call them ``signs of the time.''
Trying to deal with increased traffic along the Outer Banks - and reduce confusion at this busy Nags Head intersection - state Department of Transportation workers installed two new sets of signs Wednesday night and erected a fixed stoplight signal across U.S. 158.
The green-and-brown metal signs direct visitors to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, south Nags Head beaches and Roanoke Island attractions. The traffic signal is attached to a 2-foot-wide galvanized steel pole. Both improvements were badly needed, state Board of Transportation member R.V. Owens III said Wednesday.
``We've had so many wrecks at that intersection. People don't know where they are when they get there. And they get so confused,'' Owens said from his restaurant, about a half-mile south of the new signs.
``We're adding a menu (on signs) of all the roads and area attractions to tell people what lane to get into and where to go. Some locals might think the signs are ugly,'' said Owens. ``But they're really needed for the tourists.''
Attached to a 23-foot-tall galvanized steel pole that spans all five lanes of the highway, the new stoplights across from Soundings Factory Outlet Mall replace ones that formerly hung from wires. The design will keep the signals in place even during hurricane force winds, engineers said. It also will keep the lights from blowing off the wires and falling into the road.
``In storms, those stoplights dance like they're doing the boogie or something,'' Owens said. ``They spin around so bad you can't even see the red or green. Our goal was to take down all the jingling, jangling stoplights and put up signs to let people know how they can get where they want to be.''
An average of more than 22,000 motorists drive through the Whalebone Junction intersection each day year-round. In summer months, that figure at least doubles. Everyone going to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore or Roanoke Island will drive beneath the new signs and signals.
By Easter weekend, workers also plan to install a new menu-style sign in Manteo, near the Duke of Dare motel. That sign will include arrows and mileage for the state-owned ship Elizabeth II, the Elizabethan Gardens, the Lost Colony outdoor drama, the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island and the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. The Manteo sign will cost about $37,000.
State traffic engineer Steve Yetman said the Whalebone Junction signs and signals cost taxpayers $243,000.
``They'll be kind of eye-catching,'' Yetman said from his Ahoskie office. ``You'll definitely notice them.'' ILLUSTRATION: DREW C. WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot
Workers install a sign Wednesday above the Whalebone Junction
intersection in Nags Head. Transportation officials hope the sign
will help visitors find tourist attractions.
by CNB