Blue Ridge Parkway to undergo bridge maintenance, delays expected

Ryley Ober, Asheville Citizen Times
·3 min read
A visitor takes in the view along the Blue Ridge Parkway May 1, 2023. Parkway visitors should expect some minor delays on certain portions of the parkway in Asheville and Linville due to bridge repairs in the coming weeks.
A visitor takes in the view along the Blue Ridge Parkway May 1, 2023. Parkway visitors should expect some minor delays on certain portions of the parkway in Asheville and Linville due to bridge repairs in the coming weeks.

ASHEVILLE – Travelers to the busiest unit of the National Park Service can expect delays on certain areas of the Blue Ridge Parkway while six bridges undergo maintenance projects in the coming weeks, according to a June 29 news release from the parkway.

The project, which will replace bearings and joints and address other minor concrete repairs, is part of a series of planned maintenance projects. Areas along the parkway in Western North Carolina that are set to be worked on include: Milepost 388.1 and 388.8 on U.S. Route 25, which is the bridge crossing over Hendersonville Road in South Asheville, as well as two bridges located at Milepost 316.5 along Linville Spur Road leading to Linville Falls.

“While work is underway, Parkway travelers can expect single-lane traffic control during the day and the possibility of full evening closures with short detours,” Leesa Brandon, parkway spokesperson, said in the news release.

Brandon expects contractors to start work in the Linville Falls area before beginning the Asheville-area maintenance work, with the Linville work expected to begin as soon as next week. Nothing will start before the July 4 holiday, but soon thereafter, Brandon told the Citizen Times June 29.

The work will primarily be short-duration, single-lane closures during the day, but the contractor does have the option to make full-closures after 7 p.m. if needed, Brandon said. There should be minimal impact to parkway visitors due to this project, according to Brandon.

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Parkway visitors should expect some minor delays on certain portions of the parkway in Asheville and Linville near Linville Falls, seen in this file photo, due to bridge repairs in the coming weeks.
Parkway visitors should expect some minor delays on certain portions of the parkway in Asheville and Linville near Linville Falls, seen in this file photo, due to bridge repairs in the coming weeks.

“Once that work does get underway in a given area, the contractor will place some variable message boards on the parkway to alert visitors and neighbors about the planned construction dates in any given area, which will be a helpful reminder to us all," Brandon said.

Project work is expected to be completed by September. The parkway urges visitors and neighbors to exercise caution and observe closures while construction is underway.

The parkway curves along some of the highest peaks in the Eastern United States, stretching 469 miles from its start at Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, passing through Asheville and ending at the entrance to the Great Smokies in Cherokee. Some of the most distinctive architectural features of the parkway are its collection of over 170 bridges, according to the news release.

The parkway is the most visited unit of the National Park Service, with some 15.7 million visitors in 2022.

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“What’s really important on the parkway as it relates to as many maintenance and road maintenance projects that we have going on this season is planning ahead," Brandon said. "There are daily updates made to the road status information on the parkway’s website and planning ahead is always a good idea.”

On its road status page, the parkway provides daily milepost by milepost status information with links to additional project information or detour maps where applicable.

Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. News tips? Email Ryley at rober@gannett.com. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Blue Ridge Parkway to undergo bridge maintenance, delays expected