Highway 12 Roundabout Open

The new Highway 12 roundabout is open in Rodanthe on Hatteras Island at the Outer Banks. The roundabout opened Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. The speed limit in the roundabout is 20 mph. The added roundabout is designed to keep traffic flowing on Highway 12 and stop motorists from exiting the roundabout to the bridge. Rumble strips placed on the roadway leading up to the roundabout will remind drivers to slow down before they reach the roundabout.

The new traffic pattern is part of the soon-to-be traffic shift to get onto the new Rodanthe ‘Jug Handle’ bridge when it opens in a few months. The newest Outer Banks bridge is expected to open in early 2022. The NCDOT reports construction is about 90% completed. Travelers will soon bypass the portion of Highway 12 South in the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge on Hatteras Island. The new bridge will be 2.4 miles long.

This area has been a section of Highway 12 that is repeatedly a hotspot for ocean overwash, wind-blown sand covering the road, and soundside flooding over the roadway. Storm after storm has caused this section of Highway 12 to constantly need maintenance and repair by the NCDOT. The Rodanthe ‘Jug Handle’ Bridge will take traffic out over the Pamlico Sound between Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge and the village of Rodanthe. The NCDOT refers to the new bridge as the N.C. 12 Rodanthe Bridge. An official name has not been made public.

The NCDOT writes on their website that after construction of the new bridge has been completed the “existing roadway will be removed and that land would be returned to the refuge. In Rodanthe, the existing N.C. 12 roadway would remain to provide access to private properties.”