Oak Island Drive Just Slowed Down Near the Rec Center. Golf Carts Still Can't Use It.

On Tuesday, October 20, the speed limit on E Oak Island Drive between E 19th and E 38th streets dropped from 45 to 35 mph. Normally 35 mph is the number that lets a street-legal golf cart onto a road. This stretch is the exception. The Town passed an ordinance to keep Low Speed Vehicles off it, so if you drive a cart, your Oak Island Drive is the same road it was two weeks ago.

So the change is mostly about cars, and specifically about the curves around the Oak Island Recreation Center. It's also much smaller than what the Town's safety committee recommended last fall. Knowing both of those things makes it easier to read the signs, plan a cart trip to Saturday's Trunk-or-Treat, and follow what comes next.

What changed on October 20, and what didn't

The Town's notice lays it out plainly. NCDOT told the Oak Island Police Department on Wednesday, October 14 that it had given final approval, and the lower limit took effect six days later. The notice also says no other part of E Oak Island Drive is affected.

Here's why the cart side stays the same. Under the Police Department's posted rules, LSVs can't be driven on streets posted above 35 mph, so the old 45 mph limit kept carts off this stretch on its own. Lowering the limit would have opened it up. The Town's notice says state law allows LSVs in 35 mph zones, which is why a Town ordinance was passed to keep them out of this one.

Why the line falls at the Rec Center curves

The Town says Council started this at its April 14, 2026 meeting "as a measure to help ensure safer driving in the large curves of E Oak Island Drive, near the Oak Island Recreation Center." The vote came after discussions with the Blue Ribbon Summit on Pedestrian Safety. That committee was set up on August 12, 2025, after a pedestrian fatality and two traffic fatalities on the island that summer.

The committee's report, included in the April agenda packet, has the numbers behind the debate:

• Crashes on Oak Island Drive went from 38 in 2024 to 64 in 2025, with 24 injuries and two fatalities across those two years.
• In 2024 and 2025, the road carried about 8,061 vehicles a day, and traffic in the 45 mph zone averaged 43 mph.
• Town-wide, golf-cart accidents went from 6 in 2020 to 13 in 2024 and 12 in 2025. The same table shows zero golf-cart fatalities in all six years.

Taken together, a 43 mph average in a 45 zone means drivers were mostly keeping to the limit, while crashes on the road nearly doubled in a year. That split showed up on the dais. According to the April 14 minutes, Mayor Pro Tempore Craft said the data didn't show that 45 mph was a problem on Oak Island Drive, and he said he'd like to see crosswalks at the Rec Center with a caution light. Councilman Bynum said the data didn't support a lower limit on the whole road, though she could support one through the curves near the Rec Center.

That's the compromise that passed. The curves got a slower limit, and the cart boundary stayed at SE 38th Street.

The committee had asked for much more

To see how narrow this change is, compare it with the committee's list. Its top short-term suggestions for Oak Island Drive were:

1. Reduce the speed limit to 35 mph on all of East Oak Island Drive, not counting West Oak Island Drive.
2. Remove LSVs from Middleton Avenue to SE 32nd Street, leaving the commercial district unchanged.
3. Increase education.
4. Increase enforcement.

Its longer-term list included crosswalks at the crossovers at 9th, 20th, 31st by the Recreation Center, and 40th, plus a stoplight at 40th Street. For Yacht Drive, it suggested striping the whole street and dropping the limit to 25 mph.

On April 14, Council took those ideas one at a time. A motion to cut Yacht Drive to 25 mph and add striping failed 2–3. A motion for 35 mph on East Oak Island Drive all the way from Middleton also failed 2–3. A narrower petition to NCDOT then passed unanimously, and it left LSV access where it was. On May 12, Council approved the formal resolution asking NCDOT for 35 mph and continuing to keep LSVs off that section.

The minutes also explain why Yacht Drive stayed at 35. When Police Chief Charlie Morris was asked whether the town has a speeding problem, he said it has a congestion problem, and he later clarified he was talking about Yacht Drive. The committee's own figures fit that: Yacht Drive averaged 30.9 mph in its 35 mph zone.

Getting a cart to Saturday's Trunk-or-Treat

This is where the change matters this week. The Recreation Center at 3003 E Oak Island Drive sits inside the new 35 mph stretch, and it hosts the free Trunk-or-Treat on Saturday, October 31, from 5 to 7 p.m., with decorated vehicles and a best-decorated-car contest. The road in front of it is now 35 mph, and LSVs still aren't allowed on it.

The Police Department's LSV page already tells cart drivers to avoid long trips on any part of Oak Island Drive, "even in the 35 MPH zones." It points them to Yacht Drive, Beach Drive, E Holly Drive, E Oak Drive and Ocean Drive instead. For the west-end beaches, it says to skip the 45 mph Middleton Avenue and Oak Island Drive intersection. Instead, take W Yacht Drive to NW 1st Street and cross W Oak Island Drive to White Ln. SW. The same page links a Town LSV info map of cart-friendly routes. Pull it up before Saturday if you're taking the cart.

Here's where this week's Town events sit:

The Haunted Fishing Derby is free, but you need your own pole and bait and you have to pre-register. Doggy Daze is the Town's first pet-adoption and family festival of its kind, with a doggie splashpad, games, vendors and food trucks.

A quick reminder on the basics, since Halloween brings out a lot of carts. The Police Department says unregistered golf carts can't be driven on public streets in town. LSVs are registered through the State of North Carolina and don't need a separate Town permit. Its posted rules say an LSV must be driven by a licensed driver, must follow seat-belt and child car-seat laws, can't go on sidewalks, and can't tow a trailer or wagon unless that's registered too. That's my summary of the Town's page, not legal advice. If you're unsure whether your cart or your route qualifies, check with the Oak Island Police Department or the NC DMV.

What's still moving on Oak Island Drive

The Rec Center crosswalk with a caution light came up on April 14 but wasn't part of anything Council approved that night. The next change you'll actually see is farther east. The Town's projects page, updated in October 2026, says a traffic stoplight with a pedestrian crosswalk at E Oak Island Drive and E 79th Street is still on schedule to start construction by the end of 2026. It went to the Federal Highway Administration for final review in September.

The phase between those projects has stalled. New sidewalk from NE 56th to NE 59th streets and a lighted crosswalk at NE 58th Street have been delayed indefinitely since June while NCDOT sorts out property rights in the right-of-way. The phase before them is finished. In March 2026, a lighted crosswalk opened across E Oak Island Drive at NE 51st Street, alongside more than 1,700 feet of new sidewalk on the north side between NE 46th and NE 56th streets.

Oak Island Drive also hosts the season's big event. The Christmas By The Sea Parade starts at 2 p.m. on Saturday, December 5, leaving Town Hall at SE 46th Street and running along E Oak Island Drive to McGlamery Street. Entry applications are due November 18.

Whether a street works for a golf cart matters a lot in day-to-day island life, and it's easy to overlook until you're on the wrong side of Oak Island Drive with a cart full of kids in costumes. If you're thinking about where on Oak Island you'd want to be, and which errands and beach trips would still work by cart, Kristen Dunn is happy to go over the street-by-street details with you. Let's Connect.