Now that Nags Head has committed millions of dollars to protecting houses, hotels, condos and roads with a wider beach, it would be good to see the town fully commit to protecting people on the U.S. 158 bypass.
Most have us have seen the dangers. International student-workers riding bicycles the wrong way on the narrow shoulder as cars and trucks speed by at 50 mph. Or the night walkers in dark clothes who seem to appear in our headlights almost when we’re right on top of them.
Nags Head has led local communities with a top-notch multi-use path on the beach road, which is great for the tourists. But it has a long way to go in finishing a network on the west side of U.S. 158 that would mainly serve residents.
When my son was younger and still lived here, he would ride his bike to First Flight Middle School from our home in Nags Head. The local kids know all of the trails, parking lots and connecting roads to get where they want to go.
My wife and I recently bought bikes that have gotten little use. It’s not because they look like twins from the 1950s with their fenders and whitewall tires. You just can’t get there from here at our home off Villa Dunes Drive.
Taking a ride to the beach means knowing how parking lots and roads interconnect to get to a traffic light and a safe way across U.S. 158. That or loading the bikes into the truck and hauling them to the beach road.
The roughly mile-long stretch of multi-use path that the town has built so far along U.S. 158 is outstanding. It provides safe passage for walkers, runners, strollers and bikers and looks a whole lot better than scrubby shoulders and open drainage ditches.
Curbs, gutters and a grassy median provide a nice visual separation from the road and a practical physical buffer from the traffic.
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