The Asheville Citizen-Times is
reporting that a landslide that occurred on the Blue Ridge Parkway back in October will keep that section of road closed until July.
The landslide occurred near Ferrin Knob Tunnel No. 1, which is about six miles uphill from the parkway's interchange with N.C. 191 in Bent Creek, between Asheville and Mount Pisgah.
The target date is July 1 for opening one lane in that slide area, said Michael Molling, the parkway's chief maintenance engineer. The second lane should open around Sept. 1.
The slide area is about 300 feet long and 200 feet high. In addition to earth and rock falling onto the roadway, large fissures have appeared in the parkway pavement because of slope movement, Molling said.
Detour routes:> For southbound traffic from the Asheville area, take NC Route 191, NC Route 280, and US Route 276 to the Parkway.
> For northbound traffic near the Mt. Pisgah area, take US Route 276, NC Route 280, and NC Route 191 to the Parkway.
Elsewhere on the parkway, workers have started the massive task of clearing thousands of felled trees, debris and lingering snow left behind on the road by the harshest winter to hit Western North Carolina in a decade.
Jeff
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