Lane Closures Expected In GSMNP

If you will be driving in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park within the next few months, you may experience some lane closures on some of the park’s roadways. Park officials say this week they will begin implementing temporary, single-lane road closures at several locations for the installation of permanent roadside protection measures at busy park destinations…this is being done to eliminate unsafe, damaging roadside parking. Park Superintendent Cassius Cash says that several popular park destinations are being damaged due to many vehicles pulling off the roadways and parking in unauthorized areas. Roadside protection measures such as boulders, split-rail fencing, and wooden bollards are going to be installed on roadways including Newfound Gap Road, Little River Road near Laurel Falls trailhead; Cherokee Orchard Road; and the Big Creek and Deep Creek picnic areas as well as sections of Clingmans Dome Road and the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. You can expect these lane closures to be in effect through the month of March.