Why Oak Island's Newest 35 MPH Stretch Is Still Off-Limits to LSVs

Everywhere else on Oak Island, a 35 mph sign tells the owner of a street-legal LSV the road is open to them. Since Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, one stretch of E. Oak Island Drive breaks that rule. The Town of Oak Island's notice says the limit between E. 19th Street and E. 38th Street is now 35 mph, and Low Speed Vehicles are still not allowed to drive there.

That stretch takes in the big curves by the Oak Island Recreation Center. The change was built for drivers and for people crossing on foot. Through all of it, the Town worked to make sure the LSV map stayed exactly as it was, and that took a separate ordinance.

What moved on Oct. 20, and what stayed put

The road had been 45 mph through the curves. The 35 mph zone used to start 160 feet east of SE 37th Street. The Town asked NCDOT to move that starting point west to the intersection with SE 19th Street, and NCDOT agreed.

The east end of that middle row depends on which document you read. The ordinance language adopted Aug. 18 bans LSVs from SE 19th Street to "a point 160 feet east of SE 37th Street." The Town's public notice rounds that to E. 38th Street and says LSV access on E. Oak Island Drive stays limited to areas east of E. 38th.

Car drivers lose 10 mph through the curves. LSV owners lose nothing, because they could not use the stretch before either. The rest of E. Oak Island Drive is unchanged, according to the Town.

How a full-island proposal shrank to the curves

The road to this change started with something much bigger. In September 2025, Town Council formed the Blue Ribbon Summit on Pedestrian Safety. Its members included Town staff, elected officials, residents, law enforcement and NCDOT safety experts, and the group first met on Sept. 24, 2025. Police Chief Charlie Morris presented its recommendations to Council on Feb. 10, 2026, as described on the Town's Pedestrian Safety page.

The summit presentation asked for 35 mph on East Oak Island Drive as a whole, not only the curves. It also recommended removing LSVs from Middleton Avenue to SE 32nd Street, a signal at 40th Street, and more crosswalks. It covered other roads too, with a speed reduction and new striping on Yacht Drive, plus crosswalks at the Beach Drive crossovers and LSV removal there.

Council narrowed that over three meetings:

1. April 14, 2026. According to the April 14 meeting minutes, Councilman Bob Ciullo moved to set 35 mph from Middleton to Country Club and leave LSV access where it was, at SE 38th Street. Councilman Brown argued that residents have to cross East Oak Island Drive to reach the south-side sidewalks and the canal crossovers. Mayor Pro Tempore Craft said the data did not show 45 mph was a problem and suggested crosswalks at the Rec Center with a caution light. Councilman Bynum said the data did not support a full reduction, but she could support one through the curves near the Rec Center. The motion failed 2-3. A second motion from Brown, covering only 19th East to Country Club with LSV access unchanged, then passed unanimously.
2. May 12, 2026. Council approved a resolution asking NCDOT for the reduction to SE 19th Street. The same resolution asked to keep LSVs off the new 35 mph section.
3. Aug. 18, 2026. NCDOT had already approved the request, so Council unanimously amended Sections 28-11 and 28-14 of the Town Code to match.

So the change that took effect is the one most of the Council could agree on. It covers the curves, where the safety concern was easiest to see, and it leaves LSV access exactly where it already was.

Why keeping LSVs out took a separate rule

On most streets, a speed limit and LSV access move together. North Carolina's G.S. 20-121.1 limits LSVs to roads posted at 35 mph or less, and it lets DOT prohibit them on specific roads for safety. If Oak Island had only lowered the limit, the curves would have opened to LSVs automatically. The Town's notice spells this out: state law allows LSVs in 35 mph zones, and a Town ordinance was passed to keep them off this particular stretch.

The Aug. 18 meeting minutes show Council knew this would be something new. Brown said it would be the first section on the island posted at 35 mph where LSV use was not allowed, and that the stretch had been 45 mph for a long time. Craft summarized it for the record: carts are kept off East 37th to East 19th "consistent with existing restrictions."

That's also why the start date was pushed into late October. Interim Town Manager Kent Jackson said staff agreed implementation should wait "well beyond the season." Chief Morris said no enforcement would begin until after a published effective date and suggested October or November. Bynum asked that Pledge the Pink and the Witches Ride also be factored in, because of the visitors those October events bring. The police department put out roadside message boards before the change, according to The State Port Pilot.

Crossing the island in an LSV now

LSV routes have not changed, but a new 35 mph sign through the curves could easily mislead a driver who knows the general rule. The Oak Island Police Department's LSV page already tells drivers to avoid long trips on any part of Oak Island Drive, even the 35 mph zones, and to use parallel 35 mph streets instead. The streets it names are:

• Yacht Drive
• Beach Drive
• E. Holly Drive
• E. Oak Drive
• Ocean Drive

Yacht Drive and Dolphin Drive are both set at 35 mph in Section 28-11 of the Town Code. For beach trips on the west end, the department says to skip the Middleton Avenue and Oak Island Drive intersection, which is in a 45 mph zone. Instead, take W. Yacht Drive to NW 1st Street and cross W. Oak Island Drive to White Lane SW, where you enter at 35 mph.

The general rules haven't changed. LSVs are registered through the state and need no Town permit. They need seat belts, lights, a horn, a windshield, wipers and mirrors. They need a licensed driver, they stay off sidewalks, and they may cross a 45 mph road at an intersection. An unregistered golf cart is not allowed on public streets in town at all. This is general information, not legal advice. If you have questions about your own vehicle or route, the Oak Island Police Department and the state statute are the right places to check.

The crosswalks still waiting their turn

The speed change is one piece of a longer list of pedestrian projects along East Oak Island Drive. Phase I added more than 1,700 feet of sidewalk between NE 46th and NE 56th streets and a lighted crosswalk at NE 51st, finished in March 2026. At the Aug. 18 meeting, Jackson reported that the 79th Street signal project had gone to the Federal Highway Administration for final construction approval and was on schedule to start near the end of the year. The previously delayed 58th Street crosswalk has moved into the FY27 program. Funding requests for crosswalks at East Oak Island Drive and 31st and 40th streets, and on Fish Factory Road near Dutchman Creek County Park, are due to be decided in December.

Both 31st and 40th Street fall inside or right next to the new 35 mph stretch. If those crosswalks are funded, the curves by the Rec Center would get the slower traffic and the marked crossings the Council discussed in April.

If you're weighing a home on the east end and wondering how an LSV fits your daily routes to the beach, the market or the Rec Center, Marc Stollings can walk through the street-by-street details with you. Let's Connect.