Flooding forces I-40 to close in NC near Tennessee state line. Here's detour info
Westbound traffic in North Carolina can go only as far as Exit 20, U.S. 276, about 20 miles from the state line. The N.C. Department of Transportation is warning westbound drivers as far away as the Triangle that they'll need to take a detour around the gorge to get to Tennessee.
Photos posted by the Tennessee Department of Transportation show cars and trucks stuck in water-covering the highway at Exit 451, Waterville Road, less than a mile from the state line. TDOT closed the highway about 5 p.m. Wednesday, said spokesman Mark Nagi.
'TDOT crews are assessing the situation, but that area got a lot of heavy rain earlier this afternoon, and more rain likely tonight,' Nagi wrote in an email about 8:30 p.m. 'No ETA for road opening currently.'
The reported rock slide occurred about a mile west of the interchange. Nagi said TDOT crews removed median barriers to allow stuck traffic to turn around.
I-40 was completely shut down for months through the Pigeon River Gorge after the remnants of Hurricane Helene caused historic flooding last September that washed away sections of the eastbound lanes.
NCDOT and TDOT used the remaining westbound lanes to reopen the highway to two-way traffic in February.
This time, the floodwaters came off the mountain above the road, rather than from the river.
From the Triangle and Triad, Tennessee-bound drivers are urged to take either I-77 or U.S. 52 and I-74 north to I-81. Drivers in the mountains or Asheville area are being directed to take I-26 west to I-81.
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