Repairs scheduled for park tunnels

By Rose Hooper

That what National Park Service spokesman Bob Miller said about extensive repairs and safety-related improvement to two tunnels through which Newfound Gap Road travels across Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Work will be done this winter to raise the overhead clearance in the two 60-year-old tunnels, Morton Mountain and Chimney Tops Mountain. Many tour buses and RVs now approach the maximum legal height of 13 feet 6 inches. The tunnels, built in the 1930s, are 12 feet 4 inches at the edges so the height needs to be increased.

According to Miller, the repair is also needed to replace the crumbling concrete tunnel linings which "have serious cracks and leaks.

"Some preparatory work will begin in October, but that won't be too disruptive to traffic," Miller said. "The main thrust of the work won't begin until after Thanksgiving ­ that's our slowest visitation time. It will continue through March 15, 2002."

Between Nov. 26 and Jan. 31, the road will be closed to all traffic for two periods totaling 42 days, but work will be halted from Dec. 22 through Jan. 2 to accommodate heavy holiday traffic. Due to the narrowing of lanes and reduced overhead clearance, buses and RVs will be prohibited from using the road during the entire Nov. 26-March 15 period, including the Christmas holiday work suspension period, Miller said.

During the full closure periods Newfound Gap Road will be open, weather permitting, for 16 miles north of the park's Cherokee entrance to the Newfound Gap parking area where motorists will have to turn around and exit through Cherokee.

On the Tennessee side the road will be closed 2 miles south of Gatinburg near Sugarlands Visitors Center. The only access to the park's high elevation overlooks, trailheads an the Appalachian Trail will be via the Cherokee entrance. Park managers emphasized that access to other popular visitor destinations on the Tennessee side of the park, including Little River Road and Cades Cove, will not be affected.

Park Superintendent Mike Tollefson stressed that during the road closure period Newfound Gap will also be closed to hiker and cyclist use.

"For safety reasons we don't want to take a chance on having trucks and heavy construction equipment unexpectedly come upon pedestrians or cyclists who assume that they have the road to themselves," Tellefson said. "And, since the contractor's schedule is based upon them working multiple shifts, seven days a week, there could be construction vehicles coming and going at any hour of the day or night."

Following the full-closure period the road will reopen, but traffic through the tunnels will be restricted to one lane carrying alternating north-bound and south-bound vehicles controlled by traffic lights, from about Feb. 1 through March 15, 2002. Park managers expect that during this one-lane restriction period delays could be significant, particularly on busy weekends and in periods of bad winter weather.

The Federal Highway Administration awarded a $7.4 million contract to Charles E. Blalock and Sons to perform the work.

Throughout the construction period, the road status can be checked at www.nps/gov/grsm.

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