Topsail Island traffic cams

What each camera shows

Topsail Island only has two ways on and off, and almost everyone uses the Surf City bridge. That makes a handful of cameras surprisingly useful: one look at the right camera tells you more than a traffic map, because you can see the actual line of cars.

Roland Ave at JH Batts Rd

The closest camera to the bridge, on the mainland stretch of NC-50/210 that every car funnels through before the climb. If this is backed up, so is the bridge.

Surf City (NC-50 and NC-210 junction)

The light where NC-210 from Hampstead and NC-50 from Holly Ridge meet at Roland Ave. A line here means the merge is the bottleneck.

US-17 at Porters Neck

The main feeder from Wilmington. On summer Saturdays, backups between Porters Neck and Hampstead show up here before they reach the bridge.

US-17 (Market St) at Torchwood, Ogden

The Ogden stretch of Market Street, where Wilmington-side congestion usually begins. If this camera looks bad, add time no matter which beach road you take.

I-40 at Exit 408 (NC-210)

The exit most Raleigh and Triangle traffic takes for Surf City. A backup on the ramp here means the NC-210 corridor is loaded.

Island roundabout (Surf City bridge cam)

Surfchex hosts live video of the roundabout on the island side of the Surf City bridge. It is sometimes offline, and their player only runs on Surfchex, so the Island view links to it.

NCDOT camera images appear courtesy of DriveNC.gov. The pictures are snapshots that refresh on their own; for moving video, tap Watch live on any camera to open NCDOT's live DriveNC map right here. There are no NCDOT cameras on the island itself, at the North Topsail bridge, or in Holly Ridge or Sneads Ferry.

Questions people ask

Is there a live camera of the Surf City bridge?

Yes. The Island view links to Surfchex's live roundabout camera on the island side of the bridge. The Roland Ave and Surf City cameras show NCDOT's views of the mainland approach without leaving this page.

How can I check Topsail traffic before I leave home?

Glance at the cameras on this page, then set your route on the Topsail Traffic home page for live drive times across the bridge and a forecast for the next three hours.

Are there traffic cameras in North Topsail Beach or at the NC-210 bridge?

No. NCDOT operates no cameras between Surf City and Jacksonville, including the North Topsail high-rise bridge. The closest views of the north end are beach cams like the Seaview Pier camera linked below.

How often do the NCDOT cameras update?

NCDOT serves a fresh snapshot roughly every minute, and this page refreshes them automatically about every 30 seconds while it is open. Each picture shows the time it was fetched; tap one to see it full screen, or tap Watch live for NCDOT's live video.