RALEIGH – The following are highlights from this week at the N.C. Department of Transportation. The stories below are also featured in NCDOT Now, the department’s weekly newscast.
N.C. 12 Reopening
After catastrophic roadway damage from Hurricane Dorian on Ocracoke Island, NCDOT has awarded an emergency contract that aims to have N.C. 12 reopened before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
The work will involve sandbag installation, reconstruction of the dune line protecting the road and rebuilding about 1,000 feet of roadway. The timeline could change due to weather conditions, but the contract is working towards Nov. 22 for reopening the road.
Navigating Roundabouts
On another note, drivers are seeing roundabouts more frequently these days. They can be intimidating at first, but roundabouts are designed to be safer and more efficient than traditional intersections.
When approaching a roundabout, slow down and look left as you come upon the yield sign. Remember to yield to traffic already in the roundabout. Once you see a gap in traffic, enter the circle and proceed to your exit. You do not have to yield if there are no vehicles in the traffic circle. Once you’re moving in the roundabout, stay in the same lane, obey all signs, look for pedestrians or bicyclists and use your turn signal before exiting.
In addition, bicyclists should navigate the roundabout like vehicles do. Drivers shouldn’t pass a bicycle in a roundabout for safety reasons and must yield to pedestrians using a crosswalk at the roundabout.
As more roundabouts are built, knowing how to use them will help keep North Carolina moving.
Mobi Award
The department recently was honored nationally for an initiative started last year to promote investments in multimodal projects. The
NCDOT Mobi Awards received an Impact Award from the National Association of Development Organizations.