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In Hatteras village on Friday, March 12, Dennis Robinson signed a Notice to Proceed with building pathways for the village. The notice is effective March 15.

The Hatteras village project will construct paved pathways on NC 12 through the village and on Eagle Pass Road.

On March 1, sealed bids were opened. A Notice of Award was sent to Barnhill Contracting, which submitted a $1,165,027 bid. Hatchell Concrete was the other bidder for the project.

An estimated timeline shows construction starting on Eagle Pass and then working through the village on NC 12 to the Welcome to Hatteras sign. The entire project is expected to be finished by Aug. 15, 2021.

Championing the project are the Hatteras Village Community Center District Board of Trustees and a partnership with the Hatteras Village Civic Association.

Financing is complete with funds from the community center trustees and a $342,640 grant from the Dare County Tourism Board. The civic association, through the Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative, will receive a $360,000 loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant Program. The trustees will pay back the 10-year, no interest loan.

With the Notice to Proceed signed and financing in place, Robinson, chairman of the trustees, said “everything is done.”

The road to paved pathways in Hatteras village is a long one.

In August 2006, a conceptual plan for pathways on Hatteras Island was submitted to the Dare County Board of Commissioners by the Outer Banks National Scenic Byway Committee for Dare County. That plan, which included pathways in Hatteras village, was endorsed by Dare commissioners, Dare County Tourism Board and Albemarle Regional Planning Organization.

In 2012, a NCDOT feasibility study was completed for Hatteras village.

The Hatteras village project was submitted for funding through the NCDOT State Transportation Improvement Program through the Albemarle Rural Planning Organization. Since 2015, the Hatteras project has not been funded through that channel.

The village’s community center board set about getting pathways for the village. In 2018, the board worked to amend its General Assembly charter. Legislation was introduced and passed. The legislation required a referendum. On May 8, 2018, the village voted 157 to 10 to amend the board’s charter to use ad valorem tax funds for the construction and maintenance of multiuse pathways around the village.

A BUILD grant was submitted in 2019 without success.

The community center board moved ahead. Pathway design and surveying, paid by the trustees, were completed by Albemarle & Associates, Ltd. The project was bid out but only two bidders submitted sealed bids. A second round of bidding took place. Bids were opened March 1, 2021.

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