The Currituck County Board of Commissioners, on May 5, 2025, unanimously adopted a resolution to oppose a North Carolina Senate bill that would place tolls on motorists using the Knotts Island – Currituck Ferry. Senate Bill 257, 2025 Appropriations Act, proposes tolls for all ferry routes in North Carolina.
The Knotts Island – Currituck Ferry, operated by the North Carolina Department of Transportation, has been provided free of charge for nearly 50 years. The ferry provides a critical transportation link for Currituck County residents who live in Knotts Island, which is not connected to the Currituck County mainland. Knotts Island is a peninsula attached to Virginia and the ferry transports users across the Currituck Sound.
As expressed in the resolution, commissioners feel that ferry tolls would constitute an unfair taxation on the residents of Knotts Island and penalize them due to geographic location. Tolls would also increase the budgets of Currituck County Schools and Currituck County Government.
Daily users of the Knotts Island – Currituck Ferry include students of Currituck County Schools who live on Knotts Island. Knotts Island has an elementary school, but middle and high school students attend schools on the mainland. School buses utilize the ferry in the morning and afternoon. The ferry also provides daily transportation for many citizens traveling to and from their jobs, medical appointments, and social events, as well as county employees traveling to Knotts Island to provide public services.
The only alternative to the ferry ride is a longer drive between Knotts Island and mainland Currituck County, a route that takes motorists through the Virginia communities of Chesapeake and Virginia Beach.
The Board of Commissioners also adopted on May 5, 2025, a joint resolution of the counties of Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Hyde, Jones, and Pamlico that opposes new tolls and increases on existing tolls to North Carolina ferry routes.
