I-40 is open - a day early!

Good news - I-40 at milepost 3 is now open. They opened it last night. Both lanes eastbound are open, but only one lane westbound is open. You can get more information here - http://www.ncdot.gov/travel/i40_rockslide/.

Now, that's the official story. But let me just add a comment. I've driven that stretch of I-40 - both eastbound and westbound - for many years, at all times of the day or night. Nobody is saying this and I may be totally wrong, but I think eastbound traffic is going to be nasty. In the past, when they have blocked off one lane for construction (or whatever), I've seen the backup be as long as 5 miles.

Considering that the trip through the Park only adds about 15 minutes to the journey to Gatlinburg, I'll probably still use that route. In fact, we're planning to go to Gatlinburg on Thursday, May 6. I think we'll go over by going through the Park, but come home on I-40 through the construction zone. At that point, I'll be able to give you a better assessment.

More news! I just checked the Asheville Citizen-Times (http://www.citizen-times.com/) and found that there was a truck accident about 2 hours ago that has closed 1 lane each way at milepost 19. So I think I'm right - traffic through this area is going to be nasty for awhile. I have found that the Asheville newspaper seems to have the most up-to-date news about I-40.