CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina transportation officials announced Tuesday that a stretch of Interstate 40 near the Tennessee state line that collapsed during Hurricane Helene will reopen with one lane in each direction by New Year's Day.
The eastbound side of I-40 in the Pigeon River Gorge collapsed during Helene, washing away a significant portion of the highway in four sections. The reopening will allow access to the Tennessee-North Carolina state line.
“We are optimistic that our contract partners can complete the work, establish one narrow lane in each direction and create a safe work zone for the long-term restoration,” NCDOT’s Division 14 Engineer Wanda Payne said. “We are working to open I-40 when it is safe, and it will be tight conditions for everybody. But if everybody is patient, everybody can get through.”
Completion of the project will allow enough space for vehicles to travel at 40 mph in each direction over the 9-mile stretch. The configuration will also provide another contractor enough room to safely complete long-term repairs over the coming years.
NCDOT crews are stabilizing several thousand feet of I-40 by installing soft-nail walls into swaths cut by the flooded Pigeon River. Once that operation concludes, crews will install a concrete barrier on 5 miles of the remaining westbound lanes in North Carolina. The wall will separate eastbound and westbound traffic with a two-lane pattern for local traffic only.
Long-term plans for rebuilding I-40 are still in early development, NCDOT said. The agency has hired a design firm and project manager but there is no timeframe for when it could be started or a general estimate of the cost. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said it could easily cost billions of dollars to repair I-40 so it can withstand future disasters.
"Frankly, we don't yet know the right answer," he said. "We don't know if the right answer will be to restore things to how they were before or if a different alignment will be the responsible way forward. We have to have an open mind."