OCRACOKE, N.C. (AP) — Officials on one North Carolina tourist island hope its major road will be open to all traffic quickly after Hurricane Earl dumped sand on the highway

Hyde County spokeswoman Jamie Tunnell says N.C. Highway 12 on Ocracoke Island is open to four-wheel-drive traffic from the village to the ferry landing. She says the state Transportation Department hopes to have the road open to all traffic later Friday.

Reopening the road will help island residents, but visitors can't reach it yet because ferry service hasn't been restored. Tunnell says state officials are waiting for clearance from the U.S. Coast Guard to resume ferry service between Swan Quarter, Cedar Island and Ocracoke.

The road on Hatteras Island is closed, so ferry service between Hatteras and Ocracoke can't resume until that part of the road reopens.