From Staff Reports

ASHEVILLE  Eight major transportation corridors in Western North Carolina damaged by Tropical Storm Helene will cost an estimated $2.6 billion to repair. the Asheville Citizen Times reported on May 19.

Repairs along Interstate 40 are expected to be the costliest at an estimated $1 billion, the ACT noted.

Other projects include $286 million in repairs near Chimney Rock and Bat Cave and more projects in Henderson, Rutherford, Haywood, Mitchell and Yancey counties.

Estimates indicate eight major transportation corridor projects in Western North Carolina will cost $2.6 billion as the N.C. Department of Transportation seeks to repair roughly 90 miles of road catastrophically damaged by Tropical Storm Helene.

The projects were presented during the May 12 meeting of the Governor's Recovery Office for Western North Carolina. While construction for many projects is expected to begin in mid-to-late 2025, some projects have already begun repairs.

Following is a summary of the highway plan:

The 12-mile section of I-40 along the Pigeon River Gorge in Haywood County that was largely washed away during Helene is expected to be the highest priced infrastructure project in WNC at an estimated $1 billion. The contract for the project was awarded on Oct. 31, and construction on the full recovery project started on Feb. 27, shortly before the road reopened to the public with a modified traffic pattern.

The road reopened in March with a 35 mph speed limit along the damaged section of the Pigeon River Gorge. 

The highway has been shifted to westbound lanes, where motorists travel in a one-lane pattern in each direction.

The project, along U.S. Highway 64 and U.S. Highway 74A near Chimney Rock in Rutherford and Henderson County, spans 2.6 miles and aims to restore a section of Main Street in Chimney Rock, a bridge connecting U.S. Highway 64 and Southside Drive and the U.S. Highway 64 bridge in Bat Cave. The project is estimated to cost $286 million, with construction starting in August.

Also, a U.S. Highway 74A project between Gerton and Bat Cave spans approximately 5 miles in Henderson County, according to the project's NCDOT public input page. It will cost an estimated $126 million, a state presentation shows. Construction is anticipated to start in June.

Another project will restore a two-lane traffic pattern along U.S. Highway 64 leading to Bat Cave. It is estimated to cost $32 million with construction starting March 3.