RALEIGH – The N.C. Department of Transportation crews and contractors have reopened more than 600 North Carolina roads as workers continue to make steady progress to help communities impacted by Hurricane Helene.

Transportation crews have nearly completed operations using chainsaws to cut and move debris to the shoulders to reopen roads. Those “cut-and-shove” crews have created more than 4,100 debris sites on roadsides.

Helene left unprecedented damage in western North Carolina when it hit the state Sept. 26-27.

“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. “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.”

Progress continues on several fronts

Since Helene exited North Carolina, NCDOT has reopened 600 roads, mostly in western North Carolina.

The roads that have been reopened include Interstate 40 near Old Fort and in downtown Asheville, I-26 in Henderson and Polk counties, as well as U.S. 221, U.S. 321, and U.S. 421 in the Boone area, and U.S. 70 and U.S. 25 in Asheville.

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

The agency reported Monday there are nearly 600 road closures, with 100 of those on interstates, and state and federal highways.

The agency is reporting closures on thoroughfares including Interstate 40, U.S. 64, U.S. 19, N.C. 215, N.C. 226, and N.C. 197. The number of road closures could rise as the state agency continues its assessment, Hopkins said.

But the state agency is making headway on its busiest road, Interstate 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. As of Monday, there were more than 19,000 places – down from over 1 million after the storm — without power in western North Carolina.

NCDOT crews are being intentional in their work with utilities to get roads open so power can be restored.

Some transportation crews are transitioning from “cut-and-shove” to reconstruction, but progress varies by county due to the amount of damage.

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

Many transportation employees responding

NCDOT employees from across North Carolina have been responding since Helene came through North Carolina. As of Monday, more than 2,000 NCDOT employees are working on the recovery operations.

This includes 375 central support staff and 1,700 employees working on recovery operations, such as using dump trucks, backhoes, and graders to clear roads.

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

The N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles has 50 employees in its License and Theft Unit providing security in seven mountain communities.

The agency is still calling on people to not travel in Western North Carolina, unless they are local, responding to the recovery effort, or have essential travel needs.

“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.”

Also, NCDOT is urging truckers not to use routes that are restricted near the Tennessee border because those roads are not equipped to handle trucks longer than 30 feet.

Instead, the agency is directing truckers to use detour routes and using tools to inform truckers of the road conditions such as sending wireless emergency alerts to cellular devices and changing overhead digital signs to notify trucks of appropriate routes.

Aerial Technology Helping Response

NCDOT’s Division of Aviation has coordinated many flight missions to airdrop emergency supplies to affected areas and gather aerial imagery that can be used to photograph difficult-to-access areas. NCDOT’s drone teams and Photogrammetry unit, the Civil Air Patrol, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have flown about 250 missions to capture images that are being used to inform the massive disaster response effort.

For other galleries of select images captured by NCDOT staff, visit the NCDOT’s Flickr site.   

The division has supported the N.C. National Guard’s 517 search and rescue operations, and the guard’s air delivery of more than 3 million pounds of food, water and supplies to Western North Carolina communities inaccessible because of damaged roads and bridges.

The division is also working with emergency management partners, airports, and private pilots to ensure safe air operations by putting in place safety strategies and ensuring public airports have sufficient supplies and staff to operate.

As of Monday, NCDOT’s Aviation Division had supported the mobilization of 30 qualified staff to impacted general aviation airports to help airports manage significant increases in air traffic.

For real-time travel information, visit DriveNC.gov or follow NCDOT on social media.