I-40 Rockslide Area To Reopen April 27!

It is the news that travelers, and many businesses in Western North Carolina have been waiting to hear for six months: the section of Interstate 40 closed by an October rockslide should reopen to traffic on April 27.

NCDOT officials said yesterday that work crews still have several tasks to complete before the road reopens, including drilling ten more holes on the vertical edge of the slope and installing 31 more rock bolts in the mountain to complete the stabilization process.

The section of interstate in the Pigeon River Gorge just three miles from the Tennessee state line was closed after a massive, 150-foot tall rockslide fell on the roadway October 25. About 20,000 vehicles a day had used that section of interstate at the time of the slide.

Even after the Interstate reopens, work will continue in the area through the summer. Both eastbound lanes will reopen, but one westbound lane will be closed for about three miles while crews repair other areas of loose rock.