NORTH CAROLINA, USA — Traffic is expected to be flowing in both directions on I-40 through the Pigeon Forge Gorge by New Year's Day, According to the North Carolina Department of Transportation.
NCDOT said the traffic would be slower than normal, but officials anticipate a contractor completing a "stabilization project" securing the westbound lanes of I-40 in the gorge. NCDOT said the Pigeon River washed away the interstate's eastbound lanes in four long swaths during the historic flooding from Hurricane Helene.
"The completion of the stabilization project will provide enough space for vehicles to travel at 40 mph on one lane in each direction over a 9-mile stretch of the gorge in Tennessee and North Carolina," NCDOT said.
The department said this would also allow contractors enough room to safely complete long-term repairs over the coming years.
“We are optimistic that our contract partners can complete the work, establish one narrow lane in each direction and create a safe work zone for the long-term restoration,” said Wanda Payne, NCDOT’s Division 14 Engineer. “We are working to open I-40 when it is safe, and it will be tight conditions for everybody. But if everybody is patient, everybody can get through.
Payne also said opening one lane in both directions reestablishes "critical" connectivity for the transport of goods and services through the mountains.
"Like many things in our area, it will not be like it was for a long time, but it will be better than we’ve had in recent weeks," Payne said.
According to NCDOT, crews are stabilizing several thousand feet of I-40 by installing soil-nail walls on swaths cut by the flooded Pigeon River. The operation includes inserting long rods into the bedrock below the road, filling those with grout and adhering the rods to the rock and spraying concrete on the cut face to hold the rods in place and create a solid wall, NCDOT said.
"As that operation concludes, crews will install a concrete safety barrier on 5 miles of the remaining westbound lanes in North Carolina," NCDOT said. "The wall will separate eastbound and westbound traffic from the double-tunnel to the Tennessee state line."
NCDOT said it awarded an $8.5 million contract to the Wright Brothers Construction for the project, with GeoStabilization International being a sub-contractor building the soil-nail wall.
However, long-term reconstruction plans are still in early development, NCDOT said.