The North Carolina Department of Transportation recently posted its 2016 annual average daily traffic counts.

The highest volume in Tyrrell County was on Scuppernong Drive in front of Plum Pony Boutique, which averaged 12,000 vehicles per day.

Steve Piotrowski, with the NCDOT traffic survey group in Raleigh, was asked to explain what seems an extraordinarily high average of 500 vehicles per hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year passing that point.

He replied that a counter records every tire impacting a pneumatic hose placed across the roadway for 48 hours. The total count is then factored for differing numbers of axles on vehicles and for seasonal fluctuations in highway traffic. The result is the annual average daily traffic count.

Traffic counts are not taken on weekends, he added.

The Scuppernong Drive count was 9,900 in 2015 and 8,800 10 years ago.

U.S. 64 at the east end of the Scuppernong River bridge registered 9,300, up from 7,100 in 2015 and 6,700 in 2007.

U.S. 64 west of the N.C. 94 intersection at the Masonic Lodge showed 7,100, up from 6,000 in 2016 and 5,700 a decade ago.

On Main Street in Columbia, just east of the United Methodist Church, the 2016 count was 910, down from 960 in 2015 and 1,300 in 2007.

Main Street in front of Columbia High School recorded 1,900 in 2016, 2,000 in 2015, and 1,800 in 2007.

Road Street between Bridge and Martha streets showed 3,300 in 2016, 3,200 in 2015, and 3,600 in 2007.

The count on N.C. 94 South at Grindle Hill Canal bridge was 2,500 in 2016 and the same in 2007. There was no report for 2015.

U.S. 64 east of the western end of Old 64 Road registered 4,500 in 2016, up from 3,900 in 2015 and 4,000 in 2007.

All points measured in Tyrrell County are available in an interactive map which can be found at: http://ncdot.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index

The N.C. Department of Transportation’s Traffic Survey Group collects traffic data statewide to analyze and support planning, design, construction, maintenance, operation and research activities required to manage North Carolina’s transportation system.

Annual average daily traffic volume maps and reports are published annually, once NCDOT has collected data for the entire state and analyzed and processed the entire set.