What do the continuing issues on I-40 mean for your mountain vacation?
It was déjà vu all over again.
A torrential downpour hit the Smokies – right at the Tennessee-North Carolina state line – dumping between 2.5 and 3.5 inches of rain in about two hours. The downpour caused multiple small mudslides. The massive amount of flooding also trapped travelers on the roadway, not far from the I-40, Exit 451.
Everyone was rescued. There were – thankfully – no fatalities. But the incident closed the roadway which had only partially reopened on March 1 following the historic events caused by Hurricane Helene.
What does that mean for the roadway and its future in the area? That’s a multi-pronged question.
The short term effect
Though the investigation is ongoing, officials did not seem to think the damage was overly significant. Officials gave a rough estimate of a couple of weeks until the roadway would reopen. Work on Exit 451 would take longer.
“We have a goal of getting the Interstate open in the next two weeks,” TDOT Chief Engineer Will Reid told the Citizen Tribune in Morristown at the time. “However, we have a significant amount of work to do at the interchange at Exit 451. We think that’s going to take longer.”
Importantly, they were able to beat the timetable, reopening the road in nine days. Traffic on I-40 is back to how it was before the latest closure.
The long term effect
This is the more interesting question. A couple of weeks ago, a family canoeing on the Little Pigeon had to be rescued after being surprised by whitewater. They said they were experienced on the river and hadn’t seen whitewater in that part of the river before. Of course, this is an anecdotal example, but we know the massive rainfall last year from the Hurricane altered water paths in the mountains.
Video footage of the flooding on I-40 showed water coming down the mountain like a river in a place where it hadn’t done that before. Was that a freak occurrence caused by the large rainfall in a short time? Or has a water pathway changed in the higher mountain that redirects the rainfall in a new way? In other words, are we likely to see more flooding in that spot whenever there’s significant rainfall?
TDOT certainly worked swiftly and safely to rectify the recent situation, the question lingers… are we going to see others like it?
I don’t know that we have an answer to that question. But I do know the region was susceptible to rock and mudslides prior to the Hurricane. And I doubt anything that washes away soil and increases the mountainside’s angle of repose is going to do anything but worsen the situation.
Officials will access the need to solidify I-40’s position in the region
In the coming months, I would expect we will hear North Carolina and Tennessee officials meeting – if they’re not already – to develop a long-term plan to solidify I-40’s position in the region. Afterall, it’s not only an important road for tourist access to the mountains, but an important piece of the business and industrial operation of the Eastern United States. A great deal of commerce travels through that section of the mountains and a more long-term solution may be required.
But for now, give yourself a little extra time, double check your Google Maps and enjoy the scenic route.
How do you feel about the recent storms and flood damage? Let us know in the comments!