PEA ISLAND, North Carolina — State transportation officials are warning people to stay completely off the closed section of Highway 12 (N.C. 12) on Pea Island, Public Radio East reported Monday morning, October 26. The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) says drivers are trying to bypass barricades to look at the destruction or claim priority access, and stresses the area is entirely unsafe, with heavy machinery moving through ongoing coastal flooding.

Source: Public Radio East, Oct. 26, 2026

King tides and high winds have now destroyed more than 1,100 feet of pavement near the Pea Island Visitor Center, NCDOT said. Crews have started tearing up the broken asphalt while ocean water continues to wash over the road. The department plans to rebuild the protective sand dunes before laying new pavement, but there is still no timeline for when Highway 12 will reopen. Until then, the emergency ferry between Rodanthe and Stumpy Point remains the only way off the island.

Source: Public Radio East, Oct. 26, 2026

The Island Free Press, reported via Sam Walker OBX News and a Dare County bulletin issued Sunday, independently reported the same figure of more than 1,100 feet of damaged pavement near the visitor center. The closure began Tuesday, October 20, and ocean water again reached N.C. 12 near the visitor center during Sunday's high tide, marking the seventh consecutive day of overwash along the damaged stretch. Crews are stockpiling sand while waiting for water levels to fall enough to rebuild the protective dunes and repair the road, the county said, and a ferry park-and-ride starts Monday.

Source: Island Free Press / Dare County bulletin, via Sam Walker OBX News, Oct. 25-26, 2026

N.C. 12 remains open south of Rodanthe through Hatteras Village and on Ocracoke Island, according to the reporting. The public must stay out of the closed area and never go around barricades, NCDOT said — a warning covering vehicles, bicyclists and pedestrians, after reports of unauthorized people getting past barricades at the Jug Handle and Marc Basnight bridges. The new damage total is a major increase from the roughly 800 feet of pavement reported damaged when Governor Stein declared a state of emergency for N.C. 12 last week.