Residents In Jones Cove Dealing With Bridge Closure

Residents who live in Cosby and along Jones Cove Road are finding getting around a lot more difficult this week. A bridge on Jones Cove Road in Sevier County at the intersection with Wilhite Road was washed out during flash flooding earlier this week. Many residents use the road to get from Cosby to Pigeon Forge, Sevierville and Gatlinburg. Some residents along the road in Sevier County use it to get to Cocke County. Some locals are now using local back roads to get around instead of using TDOT’s detour along major highways. Either way, it’s adding quite a bit of time for commutes.
School starts in Sevier County on August 9th, and that bridge closure is going to cause some headaches in getting kids to schools like Jones Cove Elementary. The Sevier County school system said the Director of Transportation is working with bus drivers whose routes are affected by the bridge collapse. Final details have not been finalized, but they say that parents will be notified by robocalls once those routes have been determined.
TDOT says the bridge will be closed on Jones Cove Road for an indefinite period of time.