Landslide closes part of Blue Ridge Parkway, raising fears over roadway stability
Memorial Day weekend visitors to the Blue Ridge Parkway will find more than 10 miles closed in southern Virginia, due to landslides and fallen trees, according to a National Park Service Facebook post.
In some cases, entire traffic lanes have vanished down mountain sides, while other areas of the road are covered in trees and debris, officials said.
“The largest hazard is a full road failure roughly … 150 feet in length at Milepost 128,” officials said. “Parkway staff also discovered … two smaller slope failures that resulted in debris on the motor road at both Milepost 119 and 124. Concern remains for the stability of the hill and trees above the road in that area.”
National Park Service officials announced today that heavy rain over the past week has created multiple road hazards in...
Posted by Blue Ridge Parkway on Friday, May 22, 2020
Landslides were predicted in the mountains after days of torrential rain. Parts of western North Carolina saw 8.5 inches in 24 hours, flooding side roads and sending streams and creeks over their banks.
Most of the road hazards are near Roanoke, Virginia, from U.S. Route 24 to Adney Gap, officials said in a release. Full lane closures are in effect between milepost 121.4 at U.S. Route 220 to milepost 135.9 at Adney Gap.
Within that stretch are such popular sites as the Roanoke River Trail, Masons Knob Overlook and Lost Mountain Overlook, according to the parkway.
The full parkway runs 469 miles from Afton, Virginia, to Cherokee, North Carolina, and is often used by visitors headed to the Great Smoky Mountains on the North Carolina-Tennessee state line.
It was the second most visited place in the National Park System last year, with 14.9 million visits, the NPS says. Golden Gate National Recreation Area was No. 1 last year, with 15 million visits.
Park service officials say they are working with the Federal Highway Administration and roadway designers to “assess the roadway failures and make recommendations for repairs and restoration of access.”
“The schedule for these repairs is currently unknown,” the park service.
To view the parkway’s “Real Time Road Map,” visit: www.nps.gov/maps/blri/road-closures/ .
