Amazing video (courtesy: Chattanooga's Times-Free Press) coming out of southeast Tennessee near the Ocoee River. A large rock slide has blocked Highway 64 near the whitewater entry area. If you're not familiar with the location, imagine going due east from Chattanooga/Cleveland area, due north of Atlanta, and due south of Knoxville/Maryville area. It is a major artery for the Polk County emergency vehicles. The road also carries traffic for those heading toward North Carolina.
NewsChannel 9 (Chattanooga) Video Story
WRCB-Channel 3 (Chattanooga) with Video
TDOT (Tennessee's Department of Transportation) has an excellent web site
Need to get around the slide area? Here is a PDF file of the detour route.
Latest information from TDOT says the road will likely be closed for weeks due to the slide. The other issue complicating the situation is they are assessing the rest of the mountainside near the slide. Occasional rocks are coming off the mountain.
This is in addition to a large rock slide that occurred recently on Interstate 40 near the Tennessee/North Carolina border. I-40 is currently blocked as well, causing a big detour. News story from WITN.com
Additionally, the I-40 slide has stirred a long-heated debate on why this route was ever chosen. The detour route on I-81 is now the subject of repair problems and a detour to the detour. Excellent story about the history of I-40's Pigeon River route from Asheville's Citizen-Times.
Comments
Kind of messing up the traffic pattern. A lot of my customers come through there, hope it opens soon. Glad no one got hurt in that.
I hope, for your sake, it is cleared up soon. With your customers using that road, I am sure your cash register isn't ringing with sales like before the rock slid.
THERE WAS A VERY NICE HIGHWAY WORKER WHO HAD A HAND DRAWN DETOUR MAP READY FO ANYONE STOPPING TO ASK DIRECTIONS, HE WAS VERY HELPFUL WE SURE DID APPRECIATE IT AS WE WERE TRAVELING THRU THAT AREA FROM UPSTATE NY TO BLAIRSVILLE GA. !!!!!!
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