I-40 closure has truckers risking perilous roads in Great Smoky Mountains, NC park says

The narrow, winding roads in Great Smoky Mountains National Park are notoriously dangerous, but that’s not stopping big rigs from using the park as a bypass for storm-damaged Interstate 40, park rangers say.

More than 800 commercial vehicles have been stopped trying to use the park’s Newfound Gap Road in the three weeks since Tropical Storm Helene drenched the mountains with inches of rain, the National Park Service reported in a news release.

Some rigs have managed to slip into the park and ended up crashing, including an Oct. 5 incident in which a trucker pulling a car hauler crossed the center line and clipped a passing vehicle, officials say.

“In one (Oct. 3) incident, a commercial car hauler crashed into a wall and down an embankment and in the other, a semi-truck’s brakes caught on fire. While responding to these incidents, eight semi-trucks drove past emergency responders,” the park said.

“Newfound Gap Road is a two-lane road with steep continuous grades and tight curves. There are no truck lanes, runaway truck ramps or places for a large commercial vehicle to slow down and pull over. US 441/Newfound Gap Road is not safe for large commercial vehicles.”

Commercial vehicles caught using the park’s roads can be fined up to $5,000, officials say.

Checkpoints are now being staffed 24 hours a day at the Tennessee and North Carolina ends of Newfound Gap Road, in hopes of turning away trucks, officials said.

There is no date yet for the reopening of Interstate 40 — a major coast-to-coast artery — which saw multiple sections washed away by Helene. Much of the damage was in the Pigeon River Gorge area along the North Carolina-Tennessee state line.

This story was originally published October 18, 2024 at 8:06 AM with the headline "I-40 closure has truckers risking perilous roads in Great Smoky Mountains, NC park says."