In order to allow Sevier County Electric System (SCES) to replace six electric poles along the southbound Spur, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will allow 1 lane closures Monday through Thursdays from 7:00 am until 5:30 pm between Norton Creek and the Gatlinburg Welcome Center beginning Monday, February 24 through Thursday, March 6.
In order to better accommodate the heavier weekend traffic, no lane closures will be allowed over the weekends.
First it was flooding that closed many key roads in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, now a winter storm dumped enough snow to create another headache, virtually every road is closed due to snow and ice including the Foothills Parkway West and East and the Gatlinburg Bypass connecting the Sugarlands to the Spur.
Crews are working on plowing and sanding roads right now. They will also be cleaning up any of the additional trees, branches and roads that may have fallen into the roadways. When the melting starts, even more debris could fall into the roadway making driving treacherous.
With so much water, there have been landslides, one of which washed out a 200 foot section of roadway, and rock slides and trees that may still be in danger of falling so when the park access opens up, use extreme caution when hiking as some of these dangers may not be immediately apparent.
Another rockslide in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park along Little River Road forced the park service to close the section of roadway to all traffic between Metcalf Bottoms and the Townsend Wye.
Fortunately, the Sinks area is already closed to all traffic and pedestrian due to construction so no popular areas are directly affected by the closure.
This winter there have been numerous rockslides along the Gatlinburg Pigeon Forge Spur and Little River Road. While some of these rockslides have taken weeks to remove excess debris and complete slope stabilization, initial reports on this slide state that Little River Road will be open to traffic very quickly.
Today a second major rock slide has occurred on the section of the Foothills Parkway between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge which locals call "the Spur" closing to road to traffic for hours and creating snarls in Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville as motorists unfamiliar with the area attempted to navigate back roads in the pouring rain.
New barricades and detours have been set up so that traffic is now moving both northbound and southbound on the Spur and in some areas, southbound traffic is flowing in one lane on the northbound side.
The landslide was a major event dumping tons of rock and earth on the roadway and leaving and extremely unstable slope in its wake. Blalock construction is moving large equipment into the area which will include a crane that will be used to remove any of the unstable areas of the mountainside, which will later be removed from the road surface.
Cades Cove Loop has been closed for much of the day as the days strong winds caused a significant number of large trees and branches to fall on the roadway.
Upper Tremont road also sustained significant tree damage and a small rockslide along Little River Road undermined a tree that was in danger of falling onto the roadway prompting the park serviced to close the road between Metcalf Bottoms and the Townsend Wye.
Reports have also come in that there are a significant number of blow downs on Newfound Gap Road that has also been closed all day long.
If all of this mess is not enough for the Great Smoky Mountains national park to deal with, rivers, creeks and branches are now running very high and flooding can be expected in low lying areas.
Yet another rockslide just hit the spur with between 20 to 30 feet of debris being dumped on the roadway. This rockslide has occurred where traffic was moving in the Southbound lanes at the first curve past Gum Stand. It is not at where the previous rockslide on the Gatlinburg - Pigeon Forge Spur has occurred.
There are no reports of injuries or property damage at this time.
Traffic is being turned around and the city of Pigeon Forge has blocked off access to the Gatlinburg - Pigeon Forge Spur. Traffic on the Spur is being rerouted to the Flat Branch bridge.
A large trees is also blocking both lanes of the Foothills Parkway East and since the Great Smoky Mountains National Park personnel is tied up with the new landslide on the Spur, it will take a while to clear this road.
This Monday a significant rockslide fell onto the southbound lanes of the Spur section of the Foothills Parkway (US 441) a few hundred yards south of traffic light 10 in Pigeon Forge on the way to Gatlinburg Tennessee and experts now predict that the cleanup and stabilization of the slope could potentially take at least a month.
The rockslide between Gatlinburg and Pigeon thankfully did not cause any injuries and occurred in the off-season so the traffic affected by the detour around the rockslide is minimal right now, but will affect the tourism peak that occurs on and around Valentines Day.
Yesterday morning the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) had geotechnical engineers inspect the rockslide and their determination is that the wall or rock, earth and vegetation is still very unstable and before the roadway can be reopened to traffic, significant stabilization effort is required.
Presently TDOT will need to obtain an emergency contract to stabilize this section of the mountainside along the Spur and once the work is started will be able to offer a more accurate time in which this project can be completed.
Since the rockslide cleanup and stabilization along the spur will take so long, representatives from the Great Smoky Mountains national park and TDOT are working together to improve the traffic flow on the 1 mile detour where northbound traffic is reduced to 1 lane and southbound traffic uses 1 lane flowing south.
According to Great Smoky Mountains National Park Facility Management Chief Alan Sumeriski stated, "We are working with TDOT to improve the configuration of temporary traffic barriers and the signage to help keep traffic flowing as smoothly as possible and to maximize public safety."
He went on to say "We will also be adding numerous signs in the detour area to guide residents and visitors to each of the side roads that are accessed off the Spur."
Though park rangers patrol the entire length of the Spur, the State of Tennessee owns the portion where the rockslide took place, so TDOT has sole responsibility for repairs of the slide itself.
While being restriped today there will be traffic delays along the Spur.
A large rock slide has closed the southbound lanes of the Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge Spur portion of the Foothills Parkway by the Great Smoky Mountains national park forcing southbound traffic coming from Pigeon Forge to be detoured to the northbound lane that is now become 2-way traffic.
The southbound traffic on the Spur will continue a short distance to the King Branch bridge and at that point will cross over to the south lanes of the Spur. Traffic headed north on the Spur will be funneled to 1 lane at the King Branch exchange.
Temporary electronic variable message signs warn drivers of the detour and even more traffic cones are being put in place right now by the state of Tennessee to help better separate the lanes and assist with the traffic flow.
It is unclear at this time how long this detour will stay in place before the debris from the landslide can be removed and the roadway is declares to be safe again for motorists. Since the rock slide is on the City of Pigeon Forge owned portion of the Spur the city of Pigeon Forge is responsible for the slide clean up.
Local motorists who know the back roads may do best to avoid the area altogether.
With more than 30 inches of snow recorded in some areas of the Great Smoky Mountains national park it will take some time before all the roads in the GSMNP will be open. Power outages and stranded motorists have strained local emergency services, which held up well to this record-breaking snowstorm in the Smokies.
While the Smokies can get snow often in the winter, it is often gone within hours or a most a few days. While local and backcountry roads can use salt to melt ice and snow, the national park service can only use sand. Runoff from salt would disturb the delicate chemical balance in the waterways of the Great Smoky Mountains national park so salting roads in the park is forbidden.
The main priority is to open Newfound Gap Road back up which with I-40 closed at the NC TN border due to a landslide, is even more urgent. It will take days before people can go directory from Gatlinburg To Cherokee NC without huge detours.
Open Roads in the in the Great Smoky Mountains national park:
Closed Roads due snow and ice in the Great Smoky Mountains national park
Current Road Closures and Openings in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
A few roads just opened in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park but a still considered treacherous.
The newly opened roads are:
STAY ALERT AND DRIVE SLOW!
Anyone planning on driving in the Great Smoky Mountains national park on Newfound Gap Road (US 441), Laurel Creek Road, Little River Road and the section of the Foothills Parkway known as the Spur need to watch their speed especially this weekend as with the increased traffic from the Rod Run being held in Pigeon Forge traffic will be heavier and more than likely so will enforcement.
Traffic fatalities by far are the top danger to visitors in the Great Smoky Mountains national park. There are many hazards when driving in the National park, steep winding roads with blind curves with little or no guard rails, fallen trees branches and leaves after a storm, rock slides and beautiful scenery and wild animals that can distract a driver.
While these factors that can present a danger to drivers in the Great Smoky Mountains national park are unavoidable, driving and an excessive speed, passing cars in no passing zone (only small limited areas in the park are passing zones) and stopping in the roadway to observe and photograph deer, bear, coyote, fox or wild turkey and driving under the influence are all causes of serious and fatal accidents that can be completely avoided.
Another insanely dangerous activity visitors in the park partake in is riding bicycles on GSMNP roads that and have no shoulder and numerous blind curves where a car traveling at a safe rate of speed can come up behind a biker and when turning on the curve either hit a bicyclist, get hit from behind and they are slowing down to avoid a rider or swerving into oncoming traffic also rounding a blind curve or driving of the edge of the road.
Bicyclist should not under any circumstance ride on Little River Road between Metcalf Bottoms and the Townsend Wye. Honestly based upon the width of the roads and other dangers to drivers and riders, cyclists should be banned from all major roads in the park other than the Cades Cove Loop, Greenbriers roads, Elkmont's roads, and campground areas until bike lanes are put in.
Winter driving conditions with snow and ice in the Great Smoky Mountains national park are also particularly dangerous especially in the afternoon as previously safe roads can freeze up rapidly before the park service has a chance to close the road. Fog is also a concern especially higher up in elevation above the Chimneys on the Tennessee side and the Kephart Prong Trailhead on the North Carolina side.
Last but not least. Please do not beep your horn in the tunnels along Laurel Creek Road, the Spur and Newfound Gap Road. The sound can carry for miles - just ask any hikers along the AT.
Beeping your horn in a tunnel serves no purpose but to disturb others, the parks wildlife and engineers have told me the noise from a horn which is vibrations actually weakens structures over time.
So please for your own safety and others visiting the Great Smoky Mountains national park, drive safely and slow down!
Old man winter blew in hard and with high elevations in the Great Smoky Mountains National park measuring as mush as 17 inches of new snow accumulation the major roads in the national park are all closed including Newfound Gap Road (us 441) a major through road connecting Cherokee North Carolina and Gatlinburg Tennessee.
The following roads are closed due to snow and ice the Great Smoky Mountains National Park:
Even though there was a minor accident on the spur connecting Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg Tennessee as of now the road remains open. Driver who wish to use the Spur are cautioned that there are still slushy spots even though the road has been heavily salted and drivers should use extreme caution.
Best advice when there is accumulation on the roads is to only drive when absolutely necessary.
Due to ongoing construction on the spur connecting Pigeon Forge Tennessee with Gatlinburg Tennessee there have been numerous accidents in and near the northbound tunnel.
Drivers have exceeded speed limits in the construction zone as workers and even though the lane closure is clearly marked, many drivers have failed to move over ahead of time or yield to merging traffic.
In response to the accidents, local enforcement will be cracking on speeders so drivers are cautioned to not exceed the posted limits or you may be looking at a $340 fine.
While most days the traffic has flowed smoothly despite the construction, we have encountered a few frustrating delays that have added as much a s 20 minutes more commute time on the Spur. Southbound the delays are far less than northbound on the spur so drivers may wish to take alternate routes to avoid delays.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials have announced that starting November 5th construction will begin on the section of U.S. 441 know as the Spur which connects Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The Spur sees plenty of use - an estimated 11 million vehicles a year and since the construction project on the Spur is scheduled to be completed by March 3, 2009 at a cost of $6.3 million, many will be impacted the during this major thoroughfare in the Smokies improvement.
In order to reduce the impact of those who use the spur in their day to day driving or those visiting the area, the national park service has mandated that lane closures will be avoided during peak periods and in order to accelerate work during January through May the construction being performed by Charles Blalock and Sons will be running 24/7 and lane closures will be permitted around the clock.
Motorists will also be happy to know that the national park service will not allow construction work to be permitted on the Spur during national holidays other than the tunnels repair work and slope stabilization on Norton Creek.
The first phase of construction work to be done on the Spur will take place from November 5th through December of this year and will cause single lane closures on both the northbound and southbound lanes. None of these lane closures will be allowed during the weeks of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years.
In order for the engineers to evaluate the Northbound tunnel on the Spurs lighting system, one of the lanes will be closed on November 7th reducing traffic headed towards Pigeon forge to a single lane. Other work slated to be done to the tunnel is to repair the drainage systems which will start early in 2008.
Phase 2 of the construction project on the Spur will take place from January 3rd to May 24th, 2008. The construction projects to be done to the Spur in this phase are:
While this work is ongoing, if the weather cooperates the repaving of the Spurs surface will commence in March 2008.
Phase 3 of the Spurs construction which will run during peak visitation times in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park from May 25th until December 2008 which is when the Spur sees the most traffic.
During this phase of construction the roads paving operations will continue but there will be no lane closures on weekends. Weekends according to the National park service are defined as beginning at noon on Friday and end at sunrise on Monday morning.
During Phase 3 of the Spurs construction work will not be permitted on legal holidays, the entire month of October and the week of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years.
The last phase which runs from January 2009 until March of 2009 should be last minute clean up as the contractor and the park service expect the majority of the work to be completed by phase 3.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park Superintendent Dale Ditmanson released a press statement explaining that the reason for such a long construction schedule "is due to the numerous restrictions placed on the work schedule to avoid lane closures during peak periods and to lessen disruptions to motorists," and that "In addition, during the design development of this project, a high priority was given to institute stringent safety measures to help avoid accidents on this heavily traveled roadway.
The peace of the Smoky Mountains was shattered Sunday afternoon with the death Terry L Fox of Gatlinburg Tennessee when while driving Northbound on the Spur towards Pigeon Forge his 2005 Dodge Caravan struck a guard rail.
The fatal accident occurred on the Spur in the turning lane on the left hand exit to Flat Branch Road just north of the tunnel.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park Rangers initially responded and were then joined by Gatlinburg EMS who had to break into the vehicle in order to extricate Mr. Fox who was later transported by Gatlinburg Ambulance to the Ft. Sanders Sevier Medical Center.
The Sevier County Medical Examiner has requested an autopsy since there was very minor damage to the vehicle there is a possibility that Mr. Fox may have had a medical condition may have caused the accident and been the cause of death.
Even if it is medical condition that ultimately caused the accident we wish to warn our readers that the number one cause for death in the Smoky Mountains national park is not due to bear attack, avalanche, drowning or falls but are caused by vehicle accidents.
Waterfalls in the park are also a source of fatal injuries when people attempt the climb on the slippery rocks or get to close to the edge of a drop.
There has also been numerous drownings in the National Park caused by swift moving water and submerged rocks such as in the Sinks area of the park in Tennessee.
We ask all visitors that come to the Smoky Mountains national park to drive safely, act responsibly an keep small children under their control. We don't want what could be the best vacation of a life time to one that ends you life.
