Progress is being made on the passenger only ferry that will take tourists from Hatteras directly to Ocracoke Village during the busy summer travel season.
On Monday, crews broke ground on parking improvements and visitor facilities at the Ocracoke-Silver Lake and Hatteras terminals. Meanwhile, construction is underway on the 98 passenger catamaran style ferry. Public Information Officer with the North Carolina Ferry Division Tim Hass.
“You can actually see the keel coming together at the U.S. Workboats shipyard there in Swansboro. They tell us that they are on schedule for a late June delivery date for the boat.”
The $9 million passenger ferry project was proposed as a way to ease summertime congestion when wait times for the car ferry increased to nearly two hours. The Ocracoke Express Passenger Ferry will offer four round trips per day and cost $15 for a roundtrip ticket.