While repairs are far from over, NCDOT says this is a major improvement.
HAYWOOD COUNTY, N.C. — A major stretch of I-40 is almost back open.
Right now there’s no traffic flowing, but come Saturday a section near the North Carolina-Tennessee border will reopen.
While that’s exciting news for people who live nearby, the interstate is not fully back to normal yet.
“I think a lot of people in DOT have never seen this level of damage along a primary interstate route ever in their careers it’s historic for North Carolina and it’s historic for the country,” said Nathan Tanner, a North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) engineer.
Parts of I-40 look like cliffs.
Hurricane Helene tore through, damaging four miles of road near the North Carolina–Tennessee line.
Since late September – NCDOT crews have worked to rebuild it.
To stabilize the road, crews drilled 10,000 square feet of soil nails, anchoring the ground to prevent further slides.
They’ve also widened the shoulders to fit two lanes of traffic.
“The emergency contract, the total dollar figure will be somewhere between 12 to 15 million,” said Tanner.
When the road opens on Saturday, traffic will be limited to one lane in each direction and a 35-mile-per-hour speed limit.
NCDOT said it’s a major improvement—not just for drivers, but for local economies.
“There’s millions of dollars a day of goods that are transported through this route so that revenue is essentially lost when the road is closed and we’ve been closed for months now. So opening it up will provide us a way to transport those goods in and out of North Carolina and allow us to bring some form of tourism back to North Carolina which will also help local economies,” said Tanner.
Repairs are far from over.
NCDOT said it could take up to three years before I-40 is fully restored.
Until then, drivers should expect delays and lane restrictions.
