With proper lane markings in place, the Rodanthe Bridge finally opens to traffic
After four years of construction and months of delays, most recently because of substandard pavement markings, the Rodanthe Bridge opened to traffic on Thursday, July 28.
The bridge carries N.C. 12 from Hatteras Island out over Pamlico Sound, bypassing the south end of the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge and a section of the highway just north of the village of Rodanthe that the ocean frequently washes over during storms. It’s known as the jug handle bridge because of the way it sticks out over the sound.
The bridge opened to southbound traffic late Thursday morning, with the northbound lane opening shortly after noon.
The $154 million bridge was scheduled to open in April, when N.C. Department of Transportation held a “community day” to let local residents run, walk and cycle over the bridge before it opened to traffic.
Then workers discovered a faulty expansion joint that needed to be replaced, a process that took longer than expected because of a spring nor’easter, said NCDOT spokesman Tim Hass.
Then, just as NCDOT prepared to open the bridge in early June, inspectors found that the lane markings on the 2.4-mile bridge failed to meet its “specifications for quality and reflectivity.”
The markings are a special paint that contains tiny glass beads that reflect light from a car’s headlights. After a subcontractor had finished painting lines on the entire bridge and the approaches at either end, another contractor brought in a special machine that measures the paint’s reflectivity.
The paint failed, Hass said. Because the bridge has no lights, the paint needs to reflect headlights to help drivers stay in their lanes.
The general contractor, Flatiron Construction, and NCDOT let the paint subcontractor give it another shot, Hass said. But when the subcontractor’s truck broke down on the bridge earlier this month, a new company was brought in to finish the job, Hass said.
The cost of re-striping the bridge and replacing the expansion joint will be Flatiron’s responsibility, Hass said.
Drivers will continue to see work done on the bridge in coming weeks, as Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative finishes connecting electric, phone and internet transmission lines.
When that work is finished, contractors will remove the pavement and sandbags from the bypassed section of N.C. 12, allowing it to return to its natural state. Building the bridge required taking nearly 3 acres from the wildlife refuge, but NCDOT says removing the old highway will return about 19 acres.
This story was originally published July 28, 2022 at 1:14 PM with the headline "With proper lane markings in place, the Rodanthe Bridge finally opens to traffic."
