TDOT To Reopen I-40 In Cocke County

TDOT says that I-40 will be reopening in Cocke County in the next few weeks. Right now eastbound traffic is being made to exit at Route 73, exit 440. Westbound traffic can get on the interstate at the Hartford Road exit, number 447. TDOT’s plan is to open the interstate to the North Carolina state line. That will be done by moving both directions of traffic over to the westbound lanes starting at exit 447. From that exit to the state line, the interstate will have one lane of travel in each direction. I-40 will remain closed indefinitely in North Carolina. parts of the interstyate were washed away in the Pigeon River Gorge. NCDOT says they are having problems surveying just what needs to be done as they are having a hard time trying to get crews to the sites that need repair. Interstate 26 in Unicoi County is closed as well. It is believed that it could be at least nine months before I-26 could reopen.

That leaves commercial traffic having to take a detour of I-81north to I-77 south in Virginia to get from Tennessee to North Carolina. Some commercial vehicles have been trying to use Newfound Gap Road through the national park as an alternate. That road is closed to commercial traffic. Two recent accidents involving commercial vehicles closed that highway for periods of time.