Slow down: N.C. 12′s summer speed limits in effect on the Outer Banks

A rite of summer on the Outer Banks has arrived with the lowering of speed limits along sections of N.C. 12.

North Carolina Department of Transportation crews this week started the process of reducing speed limits and changing out signs along sections of road in Currituck and Dare counties.

On Hatteras Island, the speed limit on N.C. 12 drops from 45 mph to 35 mph through the tri-villages of Rodanthe, Waves and Salvo, as well as in Avon and Frisco, NCDOT said in a news release.

Seasonal speed limit reductions will also return to the area just north of Oregon Inlet and around the Haulover Parking Lot south of Avon.

On the northern beaches, the speed limit on a 3.1-mile section of N.C. 12 from Duck to the Currituck County line will be permanently lowered from 45 mph to 35 mph, the department said.

Last summer, NCDOT permanently reduced the speed limit along a stretch of U.S. 158 heading to the Outer Banks.

The limit dropped from 55 mph to 45 mph on 3.4 miles of the highway in Currituck County, between the H2OBX Waterpark and the Wright Memorial Bridge.

Kari Pugh, kari.pugh@virginiamedia.com