FRANKLIN – N.C. Department of Transportation crews will return to a spot in the Cullasaja Gorge where one tree removal revealed that others need to be cut down as well.
A maintenance team will remove hazardous trees from an embankment beside U.S. 64 in the Cullasaja Gorge on Monday, Nov. 18, to make the area safer for drivers.
Flaggers will be in position at 9 a.m. on Monday morning to direct drivers bound for Highlands to utilize Buck Creek Road around the maintenance operation and into Highlands. Drivers heading to Franklin will be diverted to Buck Creek or N.C. 106 down the mountain. No drivers will be allowed between Jackson Hole Gem Mine and Highlands Gap Drive.
“We removed one tree two weeks ago and found others we need to remove,” Macon County Maintenance Engineer Mark Hill said. “It’s best that we take them down before they fall on their own and damage something or somebody.”
Commercial trucks are not allowed on this section of U.S. 64. Residents and local traffic may access side roads off U.S. 64 from their respective sides.