
DATE: Sunday, August 24, 1997               TAG: 9708240103

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY JENNIFER LANGSTON, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  127 lines

ROUTE 12 IS A BEAUTY, BEAST STATE TRIES TO KEEP THE ROAD CLEAR FOR DENIZENS AND TOURISTS

The ribbon of road that hugs the shoreline from Corolla to Hatteras can be a rare jewel or a nightmare. It depends on the weather.

State Route 12 meanders past rolling surf and lush marshes. The two-lane road, which practically brushes against the ocean and Pamlico Sound in spots, was recently voted ``Most Favorite Scenic Highway'' by readers of a statewide magazine.

But eroded sand dunes leave sections of the highway vulnerable to flooding during storms. The road is the only land evacuation route for 5,600 residents who live south of Oregon Inlet.

State transportation officials will begin a $500,000 project next month to rebuild dunes at three different locations - the latest in a string of fixes to protect the road.

``These are areas where we traditionally have problems with ocean overwash during storms or even high tides. We know that we have problems when we don't have dunes,'' said Cheryl Booth, assistant director for Dare County Emergency Management.

One targeted area is a two-mile stretch south of the Pea Island Visitor Center that was moved 300 feet farther from the ocean two years ago.

Sandbags that once lined the highway were removed after it was relocated. But the natural dunes have been worn away - offering little protection.

``The dune is null to very little,'' Booth said. ``It still floods. We've helped by moving the road further from the ocean. As far as something to hold water back, there's nothing there.''

The other two areas planned for dune reconstruction lie just north of the town of Buxton and the Hatteras Village development. Between the three sites, highway officials plan to rebuild over 12,000 feet of dune line.

Sand that has accumulated on the south side of the terminal groin at Oregon Inlet and that has been dredged from Hatteras Inlet will be trucked inland to rebuild the dunes.

Workers will plant sea oats and other beach grasses to help stabilize the mounds of sand.

``If we don't get any storms, it will eventually vegetate over and you'll never know the difference,'' said Don Connor, Division Engineer for the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

But all sand dunes - whether natural or constructed - can disappear in the blink of an eye during a hurricane or major storm.

``An act of nature could take them back out,'' he said. ``We couldn't guarantee that it would stay there under any event. No way.''

In the past decade, highway officials have used numerous tactics to beat back the ocean. They have tried beach renourishment projects, sand fences, dune reconstruction and moving sections of the highway.

But trying to keep the road open is just part of the job.

``It's awfully hard to beat mother nature. And that's what we're trying to do,'' said Bill Jones, spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Transportation. ``But it's something we have to do - with all the people who live there and all the tourists who visit.''

Route 12 was recently voted the favorite scenic highway by readers of ``Our State,'' a magazine devoted to travel, recreation and history in North Carolina.

Marketing director Amy Wood said the winding highway offered an attractive combination of natural beauty and historical sites. But part of the allure is its precarious existence.

``It's beautiful. The views you get are wonderful - marshes, beaches, lighthouses,'' she said. ``It could be taken into the ocean at any time and all the views could be gone.''

State Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight, D-Dare, pushed to get funding for the dune reconstruction project after emergency management officials brought the problem areas to his attention.

``It's an important seashore. It's our first national seashore. It's sought after by travelers,'' he said.

Basnight said the road's historic problems - which put the safety of visitors and residents in jeopardy - were the main reasons he got into politics.

``It damages the economy. It damages safety. It's a dangerous situation,'' he said.

Dare county emergency management officials said sections of the road were closed for only brief periods during hurricanes Bertha and Fran last year.

But previous storms have flooded gas stations along the road, destroyed dune lines and left waist-deep puddles in the street. Stretches of concrete and asphalt have sunk into the ground.

``It can be horrendous,'' said Connor. ``I've seen (areas) where it looked like a wasteland down there. Like a desert.''

Highway workers bulldoze sand off the road during storms. But when the dunes fail and the sea meets the sound, their efforts become futile.

``We'll try to keep the road open as long as we can,'' he said, but during severe storms ``you just have to get out of the way and let nature take its course.''

Discussions about how to shore up the vulnerable highway have recurred for years. Dare County Commissioners Vice Chair Geneva Perry is trying to revive a study group to explore a permanent solution to the highway's perennial problems.

``For years the general discussion has been that the real solution to that has been an elevated causeway in some areas,'' Perry said.

A similar task force - with scientists and environmentalists, and officials from Dare County, the state, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the National Park Service - stopped meeting two years ago.

A study by North Carolina State University in 1991 estimated a permanent fix for Route 12 could cost as much as $90 million.

``It takes an awful lot of meshing to move forward with a solution and the type of funding this is going to require,'' Perry said.

In the meantime, officials plan to pursue more modest projects like dune reconstruction and building walkways to keep surfers and tourists from trampling the dunes.

``What we're doing to make the road as safe as we can is really short term,'' Perry said. ``I kind of think about it as plugging the dike.'' ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS/File color photo

Bodie Island Lighthouse is just north of the Pea Island Visitor

Center, an area targeted for dune reconstruction.

Route 12 was recently voted ``Most Favorite Scenic Highway''...

Sandbags were removed from a dune line along Pea Island in 1996.

The dunes, now worn down, offer little protection to Route 12. The

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, right...

Map

The Virginian-Pilot

Graphic

DUNE RECONSTRUCTION ALONG ROUTE 12

[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]