SYLVA — A contractor for the N.C. Department of Transportation will initialize a traffic shift on Tuesday morning with the assistance of a rolling roadblock on Interstate 40 west through the Pigeon River Gorge.
Traffic heading toward Tennessee will be slowed on Tuesday, perhaps stopped at times, to safely allow crews to remove the temporary concrete median. Once this operation is complete in the afternoon, westbound traffic will be placed in the regular outside lane of I-40.
Motorists heading toward Tennessee should plan for significant delays on Tuesday. An alternate route from Asheville to the I-40/I-81 junction takes drivers up I-26 West to I-81 south and adds about 45 minutes to a trip.
This traffic shift will allow crews to begin preparing the final surface and pour new concrete to build a permanent center median between eastbound and westbound traffic.
Traffic has been utilizing one lane in each direction since Feb. 28 when the interstate reopened following a rockslide on Feb. 22.