One lane in each direction of Interstate 26 in Unicoi County was reopened today. The highway had been closed for 33 days after the floods of Hurricane Helene damaged the bridges and road beds. With that closure and the closure of I-40, commercial traffic heading across the mountain had to take a detour of nearly five hours to reach Asheville.
33,000 tons of rock were brought into fill in where the waters of the Nolichuckey River washed the road away, and enough debris to fill Neyland Stadium over the goalposts was removed. Wide loads over 12′ will still not be allowed through and commercial traffic will continue to take the longer detour.
Work continues on I-40 which was also damaged. It is open to the state line, but significant damage was done on the North Carolina side.
