Great Smoky Mountains Natl. Park — The Great Smoky Mountains National Park announced it is temporarily closing Newfound Gap Road between Gatlinburg and Cherokee, North Carolina overnight because commercial trucks were illegally driving through the park.
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Large commercial vehicles are prohibited from driving anywhere in the park except for the Spur, which is the road that runs between Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.
GSMNP officials said Newfound Gap Road/U.S. 441 will close Friday between 10 p.m. and 7:30 a.m. The park said it also responded to two significant crashes overnight.
"Newfound Gap Road in particular is not safe for large commercial vehicles—it is a curvy two-lane road with steep continuous grades," the park said.
Similarly, transportation officials in Tennessee and North Carolina said they are seeing truckers trying to illegally drive on other routes through the mountains that are too dangerous for large commercial traffic, such as "The Dragon" in Blount County.
"No trucks with trailers over 30 feet in length, or single units over 30 feet in length are permitted on US 129 'The Dragon' in Tennessee or North Carolina," the Tennessee Department of Transportation said.
Flooding from Hurricane Helene destroyed sections of both Interstate 40 and Interstate 26 near the Tennessee/North Carolina state line, cutting off a crucial trucking route in the Southeast.
Federal and state authorities said it is a top priority to repair both interstates. I-26 is expected to be repaired before I-40, but both will likely be closed for months at a minimum while this happens.
Drivers are being told to take a long detour around via Interstate 81 and Interstate 77 in Virginia. North Carolina crews are telling thru-drivers to stay out of Western North Carolina right now because numerous roads were damaged and too dangerous to drive on.
