For decades, the ferry serving Knotts Island has carried people to the Currituck County mainland for school, work and appointments at no cost.
Lindsay Freeman grew up traveling to school on the ferry and later used it for work. She now has a teenager who rides a school bus carried by the ferry across Currituck Sound.
“It would be devastating to this community if we had to pay to get on the ferry to go to the other side,” she said Wednesday.
Free rides on the only ferry line in the county are expected to come to an end through the North Carolina budget, though the process wasn’t complete Thursday morning. The budget supported by both chambers of the General Assembly calls for tolls by Jan. 1 for ferries that don’t have them.
It isn’t clear what the price could be for Knotts Island. Whatever it is, residents and county officials say it’s too much.
“I really think this is ridiculous because that ferry serves as the island's roadway to the mainland,” said County Commissioner Janet Rose, who grew up on Knotts Island. “You know, we don't have a road leading to anywhere in North Carolina. Our road leads to Virginia if you live on Knotts Island.”
The northern part of Knotts Island is Virginia Beach but most of it is North Carolina. The only road in or out is a causeway. Reaching the Currituck mainland by car means driving through Virginia Beach and Chesapeake.
There are a few specifics from the budget, including a $150 annual pass for coastal community residents. County Manager Rebecca Gay said they expect school buses to be exempt but language in the budget suggests a high school student who drives to school but uses the ferry might have to pay that sum to go to school. She said the county feels a toll on the ferry is an additional burden for people because of where they live.
“The ferry is a way of life here,” she said Thursday.
The Currituck County Board of Commissioners has long opposed ferry tolls, which have been discussed before and were proposed to generate revenue to help sustain the ferry system.
Sen. Bobby Hanig, a Republican from Currituck County and a former county commissioner, said he was voting against the budget because of ferry tolls, according to WUNC. On Wednesday, he said ferries effectively are part of the North Carolina highway system, NC Newsline reported.
“You’ve got to remember, this is our highway,” Currituck Commissioner Tony Angell told WHRO near the ferry landing on Knotts Island, where he lives. “This is the way that we interact with the county. That's the only destination that we can go from North Carolina and stay in North Carolina to get to the mainland.”
Angell’s son drives to school but uses the ferry for part of that trek.
“Are you going to tax a 17-year-old to go to school?” Angell said.