# Rt. 40 closed at North Carolina border



## Kelso (Nov 15, 2009)

This is near Asheville. Due to a rock slide the road has been closed. I do not know how long it has been going on. But the motel mgr told me that it is expected to take another 6 months to reopen the road. 

We had to take a detour that took us over a 100 miles out of our way      and took hours to complete. I sure wish I had planned a different route for this trip.

Anybody know anything more.??????


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## UK Fan (Nov 15, 2009)

It has been blocked for a few weeks now.  The detour is escpecially bad when traveling in the dark...use caution.


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## shagnut (Nov 15, 2009)

There may have been another rock slide yesterday on top of that one. shaggy


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## tombo (Nov 15, 2009)

I will be traveling from I 75 exiting onto I 640 at exit 385 towards Asheville. Then we get on I 40 where it meets I 640 . We then travel 29 miles towards Ashville until we merge onto I 81 north at exit 421. We will be driving this rout December 12 and returning on the same route on December 19th.

Is the section of I40 I will be traveling on a section that is closed, and if it is what alternate route do you recommend? I will be driving to Boone North Carolina coming from Knoxville.

Thanks for any help or advice.

Tom


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## riverdees05 (Nov 15, 2009)

Check out

http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/

and

http://www.ncdot.org/


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## tombo (Nov 15, 2009)

riverdees05 said:


> Check out
> 
> http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/



This is what I found so far:

"A rock slide on I-40 at mile marker 2.6 in the Smoky Mountains outside Asheville near the TN state line has disrupted traffic on I-40. Both sides of I-40 have been closed, and DOT has recommended a nearly 140 mile detour.  This road closure is expected to last approximately three months. "

http://www.highlandscondos.com/travel_advisory.html

I think it is I40 towards Asheville after I exit onto I81, but I am trying to make sure.

Thanks,

Tom


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## DaveNV (Nov 15, 2009)

tombo said:


> This is what I found so far:
> 
> "A rock slide on I-40 at mile marker 2.6 in the Smoky Mountains outside Asheville near the TN state line has disrupted traffic on I-40. Both sides of I-40 have been closed, and DOT has recommended a nearly 140 mile detour.  This road closure is expected to last approximately three months. "
> 
> ...



Tom, I think you'll be fine.  Your route (as I understand it) puts you on I-81 heading East from the I-40 interchange at Exit 421.  That's where I-40 bears South.  The slide area appears to be further South on I-40.

Check their PDF, and note the "Slide Area" tag they inserted into the map.  Your destination of Boone is East of Johnson City, way up in the upper right corner of this map.

http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/rockslide09/maps/local.pdf

I think...  

Dave


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## tombo (Nov 15, 2009)

BMWguynw said:


> Tom, I think you'll be fine.  Your route (as I understand it) puts you on I-81 heading East from the I-40 interchange at Exit 421.  That's where I-40 bears South.  The slide area appears to be further South on I-40.
> 
> Check their PDF, and note the "Slide Area" tag they inserted into the map.  Your destination of Boone is East of Johnson City, way up in the upper right corner of this map.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the map. You are correct, I won't have a problem as I continue on I 81 where 40 heads south to the rock slide. Looking at that detour to get to Asheville all I can say is WOW! That is a long way out of the way for someone going from Knoxvillle to Asheville.


Thanks again for the map.

Tom


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## DaveNV (Nov 15, 2009)

tombo said:


> Thanks for the map. You are correct, I won't have a problem as I continue on I 81 where 40 heads south to the rock slide. Looking at that detour to get to Asheville all I can say is WOW! That is a long way out of the way for someone going from Knoxvillle to Asheville.
> 
> 
> Thanks again for the map.
> ...




Glad to oblige.  Love that area - have fun!  I spent six of my Navy years in the Norfolk, VA area, and I had a LOT of fun down in the NC mountains, and out on the Coast.  I think it's about time for another NC trip...

Dave


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## rcshelton (Nov 16, 2009)

Kelso said:


> This is near Asheville. Due to a rock slide the road has been closed. I do not know how long it has been going on. But the motel mgr told me that it is expected to take another 6 months to reopen the road.
> 
> We had to take a detour that took us over a 100 miles out of our way      and took hours to complete. I sure wish I had planned a different route for this trip.
> 
> Anybody know anything more.??????



From Knoxville to Asheville on I-81 and I-40, the distance is aprox 115 miles and travel time is roughly 2 hours.  The designated detour route for the I-40 slide is I-81 and I-26.  The detour route is approx 167 miles and roughly 3 hours driving time. But it is on an interstate freeway type facility all the way.
It is the safest and easiest drive detour and can handle the large volume of truck traffic safely.  Recently constructed I-26 through the mountains of NC and Tenn also is a very scenic drive.   

There is a shorter route which is ok for cars.  Take US 25-70 at Newport, TN, go through Hot Springs, NC to I-26 at Weaverville, NC then south to Asheville.  The distance from Knoxville to Asheville on this route is around 110 miles but driving time would be approx 2.5 hours, as US 25-70 is mostly a two lane mountain road.  It is not designated as a detour route as Tenn DOT and NC DOT do not consider it safe for trucks or commercial traffic and
potentially hazardous for nighttime driving. Also, it probably could not handle all the traffic now. 

This route was designated  as a detour route in 1997 when the last rock slide closed I-40((A twenty mile section of I-26 through the mountains in Tenn and NC was not complete at that time). There were several serious truck accidents on this detour route.  However, since 1997 there has been significant improvements to this route in NC.

You probably could save 30 minutes by using US 25-70 but I would not use it at night.

A scheduled reopening date for I-40 has not been established yet.


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## jme (Nov 16, 2009)

*some interestiing links*

interesting Rock Slide links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVYGJYnJTi0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U41hG9YeHFQ


First clip is not HWY 40, but is very similar to it , occurring on Hwy 64, also in Tennessee, this year.  

Shows why it's so devastating!  Now we will appreciate the WATCH FOR FALLING ROCKS signs!  

We also had to bypass the HWY 40 disaster two weeks ago, but instead of the long detour mentioned (we were headed to Pigeon Forge from the south, passing by Asheville short of the I-40 slide)  we only had to go via Hwy 72-W at Waynesville,  thru Cherokee, then onto Hwy 441-N, so it was about the same distance to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge.   jme


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## sfwilshire (Nov 17, 2009)

rcshelton said:


> There is a shorter route which is ok for cars.  Take US 25-70 at Newport, TN, go through Hot Springs, NC to I-26 at Weaverville, NC then south to Asheville.  The distance from Knoxville to Asheville on this route is around 110 miles but driving time would be approx 2.5 hours, as US 25-70 is mostly a two lane mountain road.  It is not designated as a detour route as Tenn DOT and NC DOT do not consider it safe for trucks or commercial traffic and
> potentially hazardous for nighttime driving. Also, it probably could not handle all the traffic now.



My daughter took this detour a couple of weeks ago based on the recommendation of one of our local television stations. They said it was much shorter than the official detour. Big trucks are not allowed because of the weight limit on one of the bridges. It really didn't take her too much longer than the normal interstate way, though she did mention that it was a boring drive in the dark.

I should note that curvy roads don't bother her growing up where she did. That might not be true for everyone.

Her friend took the official detour the previous weekend and said it only added about 30 minutes to the trip, though I suspect she exceeded some speed limits along the way.

Sheila


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## Kelso (Nov 20, 2009)

The detour was 155 miles and 2.5 hours. Long detour. I need to figure out a better route from Hilton Head to Chicago without using I40's detour. This is tough. Looks like I may have to drive through Atlanta!


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## sfwilshire (Nov 21, 2009)

Kelso said:


> The detour was 155 miles and 2.5 hours. Long detour. I need to figure out a better route from Hilton Head to Chicago without using I40's detour. This is tough. Looks like I may have to drive through Atlanta!



Atlanta's not so bad if you avoid all the long rush "hours".

Check out www.wbir.com for a discussion of the alternate detour that my daughter took.

Sheila


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## laurac260 (Dec 2, 2009)

I think we may just take I-77 up toward columbus, then over to Cincinnati.  I really wanted to avoid the mountains during late december anyway.  I don't think this will take us any more out of our way than the current detour offered.


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## laurac260 (Mar 19, 2010)

I-40 is slated to reopen April 16th, according to TDOT link listed above.


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## sfwilshire (Mar 19, 2010)

Drat. That's two weeks later than they've been saying all winter and means we'll have to detour on our Easter week trip in both directions.

Sheila


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## geekette (Mar 19, 2010)

laurac260 said:


> I think we may just take I-77 up toward columbus, then over to Cincinnati.  I really wanted to avoid the mountains during late december anyway.  I don't think this will take us any more out of our way than the current detour offered.



How did you like this route - good roads/easy drive?  rest areas??

how did it work out time-wise?


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## laurac260 (Mar 21, 2010)

geekette said:


> How did you like this route - good roads/easy drive?  rest areas??
> 
> how did it work out time-wise?




We won't be going until July.  It looks to me like it isn't much further.  Flyerbobcat (Tom) lives in Columbus, so I think he takes that route.  If you search thru Marriott threads, especially any to do with Grande Ocean, you will find him and can message him.  He's pretty good about responding.  Me, I'm not sure if I will be able to talk DH into the change anyway.


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## FlyerBobcat (Mar 21, 2010)

Coming home from HHI to Columbus, OH.....

I take I-77 North to near Ripley WV,  then Rte 33 West to Columbus (through Athens, OH).


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