RALEIGH – The N.C. Department of Transportation will close a section of N.C. 12 in Frisco at 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 12, to replace three aging culverts under the roadway.
The culverts being replaced are between Lassiter Lane and Lullaby Lane. NCDOT crews will excavate the existing culverts and replace them with corrugated metal pipes. They will then repair the roadway with rock before reopening the road to traffic.
During the closure, there will be a detour route for 4×4 vehicles only. The southbound detour will begin at Ramp 44 off of Lighthouse Road at the Cape Hatteras Light Station in Buxton. The northbound detour will begin at Ramp 49 off Billy Mitchell Road in Frisco. The 8.3-mile detour will be clearly marked from N.C. 12 and along the detour route in both directions.
“The big reason to do this job during the daylight hours is safety, both for the highway workers doing the project and for motorists using the 4×4 detour,” said Tim Hass, Ferry Division spokesman.
Motorists using the detour should follow the posted speed and directional signage. Use of the detour route is at the driver’s own risk, and NCDOT is not responsible for towing stranded or stuck vehicles.
Area residents and visitors are encouraged to plan ahead for the closure.
“At this point, the Ferry Division is not planning to alter the ferry schedule on the Hatteras route,” Hass said. “We have never really seen huge spikes in traffic during similar events, and we don’t expect to on this one either, since N.C. 12 will have been closed all day in both directions, and the fact that Sundays in March have never been busy days historically. However, we will be monitoring the traffic that we get and make all reasonable efforts to accommodate it.”
