UPDATE: Over 600 roads reopen after Helene as crews continue to make progress

RALEIGH — The N.C. Department of Transportation crews and contractors have reopened more than 600 North Carolina roads, mostly in the western part of the state, since Hurricane Helene.

Transportation crews were nearly done cutting and moving debris to the shoulders to reopen roads, NCDOT officials said Monday. They created over 4,100 debris sites on roadsides.

“Damage estimates from what we have been able to assess to this point are up to several billion dollars and we’re not done,” said state Transportation Secretary Joey Hopkins in a news release. “The damage to our roads and bridges is like nothing we’ve ever seen after any storm, and this will be a long-term recovery operation. But we will be here until western North Carolina can get back on its feet.”

The roads that have been reopened include:

• Interstate 40 near Old Fort and in downtown Asheville
• I-26 in Henderson and Polk counties
• U.S. 221, U.S. 321 and U.S. 421 in the Boone area
• U.S. 70 and U.S. 25 in Asheville

NCDOT has identified more than 6,900 sites where roads and bridges are damaged.

There are nearly 600 road closures, with 100 of those on interstates, and state and federal highways. NCDOT reported closures on thoroughfares including Interstate 40, U.S. 64, U.S. 19, N.C. 215, N.C. 226, and N.C. 197.

Road closures could rise as the state DOT continues to assess.

Officials said the department is making progress on its busiest road, I-40.

NCDOT has awarded a $10 million contract to Wright Brothers Construction to stabilize the westbound lanes of I-40 in the Pigeon River Gorge. The contract includes incentives to be completed by Jan. 4. NCDOT is working with Tennessee transportation officials and the Federal Highway Administration on the long-term plan for reconstruction of I-40 in the gorge.

‘Getting power restored remains a priority’

There were more than 19,000 places, down from over 1 million after the storm, without power on Monday in western North Carolina.

Some areas, including Mitchell and Yancey counties, continue to have limited access to the state road system.

Recovery operations

More than 2,000 NCDOT employees are working on the recovery operations, including 375 central support staff and 1,700 employees. They are using dump trucks, backhoes, and graders to clear roads.

More than 230 employees working on recovery operations were deployed from eastern and central North Carolina.

The N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles has 50 employees providing security in seven mountain communities.

Officials still discourage travel in the western part of the state unless they are local, helping with recovery, or need to travel.

Non-essential traffic hinders efforts

“Non-essential traffic continues to hinder our efforts to reopen roads,” Hopkins said. “Many of our crews are having to stop work to allow traffic through damaged areas. We’re working as hard as we can, but we need most of these travelers to use alternate routes outside of the impacted areas to get through and around Western North Carolina.”

NCDOT urges truckers not to use restricted routes near the Tennessee border because those roads can’t handle trucks longer than 30 feet.

NCDOT said they should take detours.

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