A stretch of a North Carolina highway that collapsed during Helene is about to reopen

WAYNESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A stretch of Interstate 40 through the western North Carolina mountains is reopening to traffic this weekend, months after Hurricane Helene’s historic flooding collapsed portions of the road, partially restoring the major travel connection with eastern Tennessee.

The state Department of Transportation said the 20-mile (32-kilometer) section on the North Carolina side of the border will officially reopen on Saturday. Flooding in the Pigeon River gorge in Haywood County washed away over 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) of I-40’s eastbound lanes in late September.

Although usually a four-lane road, large portions of the section will operate for now with just one narrowed lane in each direction, with a 35 mph (56 kph) speed limit, according to the state Transportation Department. A concrete curb separates traffic, and periodic breaks provide access to emergency vehicles.

Gov. Josh Stein announced Feb. 10 that I-40 traffic would reopen by March 1.

“This opening improves the flow of people, goods and services between our two states and between locations far beyond Haywood County,” regional DOT engineer Wanda Payne said in a news release this week. The release said that travelers on the stretch of I-40 should expect delays, especially on holiday weekends and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and suggested they still consider alternate interstate routes.

While I-40 across the Tennessee line reopened months ago to traffic almost to the North Carolina border, one-lane-only sections also will extend into Tennessee to complete the connection, North Carolina DOT said.

North Carolina government had hoped to restore traffic on I-40 in early January, but that got delayed when more asphalt from eastbound lanes fell in mid-December. Contractors worked to stabilize what’s left of the road by driving long steel rods into bedrock below the road, filling them with grout and spraying concrete on the cliff face to hold them in place.

North Carolina government has already entered a contract for the road's permanent reconstruction. Transportation Secretary Joey Hopkins told state lawmakers this week it would be late 2026 before the section can resume fully to four lanes, provided that stone can be quarried from the adjoining Pisgah National Forest. Otherwise, he said, it could take two to three additional years longer, because trucks will have to ship stone in from Tennessee.