Myrtle Beach Message Board

Well we have a new wrinkle in our plans to make repeated roundtrips from Pigeon Forge, TN to Surfside Beach this fall. Normally travel is pretty smooth but unfortunately there was a major rock slide on I-40 at mile marker 3 in North Carolina. The news that I am reading is indicating that it may be months before the road is fully open. I understand it is blocked in both directions. What is normally about a 7 1/2 hour trip could turn out to be a lot longer. The route that is officially suggested is taking I-81 to Johnson City area and then pick up I-26 there. There is a Hwy25 in Newport that changes to Hwy 70 that takes you to Asheville area but that would probabnly add 2 hours to the trip. We are also considering going through Gatlinburg and across the mountains on 321 to Cherokee, NC. Does anyone know any secret quick ways that we have overlooked. Thanking you in advance for any suggestions.

Judy/Pigeon Forge, TN

When it happened before we took the Johnson City route.....and it took forever! It was an awful drive.
One time when my brother was coming back to school ...usc...from Ky I 40 was closed and he went to Atlanta and over ,,,which he said was pretty easy.
When I go home to Ky I almost always get off on 25 in Newport and go the rest of the way on the two lane....I would see no reason why you couldnt take 25 from newport to Ashville or over the mountain in Cherokee would work until the weather gets icy...it would be beautiful right now...
None of the options are great....

Thank you Laura. You are right none of the options are great. We are leaving Pigeon Forge in about an hour and hopefully we will get to the beach sometime today!!

Judy

The more I think about it the Newport to Ash eville on 25 is probably the best bet with over Cherokee a second....of course depending on which side of PF you live in....be safe!

Judy, you've probably left by now, but I asked several locals who are familiar with the various routes and they agreed 25/70 is your best option. Good luck.

Jack

Judy,

I know that the Atlanta route sounds like a long way out of the way, but you just might want to map quest it. We live approx. 2 hours from Pigeon Forge and it takes us about the same amount of time to go over the mountain as it does through Atlanta so by the time you detour 2 hours through Johnson City it just might be worth your time. We took the Johnson City detour last time and it was terrible. Also, the Atlanta route is interstate the entire way. Let me know how it goes.

Deanna

Thank you all for your good suggestions. We ended up taking the official detour through Johnson City then picked up I-26 in Asheville. It took us forever to get here. It added 50+ miles to the drive and over 1 hour in time. We are heading home for the weekend and am not sure which way we will go. I do feel for all the businesses in NC and TN that will be affected by this rock slide. First I figured that maybe it was a sign that we were not suppose to be going back and forth to the beach this year. Then I figured with approx. 30,000 cars traveling that part of I-40 everyday why would I be so important to get a sign. If you are lucky enough to be at the beach you are lucky enough. Despite the fact that today Tuesday was a cloudy dreary day here in Surfside. Tonight we are going to Taste of the Town at the Convention Center. I have not been doing trip reports yet as I do not have a computer with me (at Surfside Library right now).

Judy

An FYI for everyone using Google Maps, Bing Maps, or Mapquest to plan your trips.

I had a look a few of the sites this morning. 3 days after the slide, some of the the "real-time traffic" information seems to be lagging...

Bing Maps shows an alert, an information panel about the slide and gives detour information:

http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v ... &encType=1

MapQuest shows an alert, but no rerouting info:

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?address=As ... :f:EN:M:/e


Google maps shows no problem:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=35.7 ... 10&layer=t


So now you have a better idea on what software to use if you are planning a trip....

I do really appreciate all your helpful information. It is Thursday evening and we have just returned from Surfside Beach. We left this morning at 10:30 am and arrived home shortly after 6pm. This time we took the Hwy25 - 70 route through Hot Springs, NC and Newport, TN. We found that by taking I-26 W to exit 18 (or was it 19) and following Hwy25-70 from there are total driving time and mileage was only slightly more than our normal I-40 to I-26 route. I had a friend that traveled back Sunday but took I-40 to exit 29 and then over to Hwy-25-70 through Hot Springs and it took her considerably longer. Needless to say I am very pleased that we found (with your help) a great alternative to the official detour.

Judy

Just an update for anyone planning on going I-40. I was in Tenn. last week on I-40 and construction signs are still indicating that I-40 is closed at mile marker 3 in NC. This is my route and I'm really glad that it should be ready to go before my summer trip.

I heard last week it's expected to be "March or later" before it reopens. They are starting to drill 120-foot holes into the remainder of the rock mountain face to insert large rods designed to prevent future slides. Hopefully, this will solve the recurring problem.

Jack

Hopefully they have it back open before travel season. This is a major part of the travel route for lots of people heading to MB, and alternate routes are not really favorable. I'm concerned about my one trip a year, but you also have to feel sorry for the economic hardship this has placed on the local economy in that area of NC.

We have made about 7 roundtrips from Pigeon Forge, TN to Myrtle Beach since the rockslide. We have been taking Hwy 25 - 70 N thru Marshall, NC, Hot Springs, NC, and Newport, TN. It only adds a few minutes do the total trip time. You will see almost no big trucks on this route. I prefer I-40 but in the meantime this is a good alternative. Unfortunately the transition thru Asheville can get pretty hairy but that is the only snag.

Judy

I used the 25/70 route Jan 2. Very little traffic and it was a nice change of pace from the freeway travel. I little warning, I saw 3 different police cars parked and looking for speeders. I agree that this is a good detour aroung the I-40 closure.

MichaelB

New Rockslide on I-40 in NC January 23, 2010

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina Department of Transportation
officials say a new rockslide in the closed section of Interstate
40 brought down 50 dump-truck-loads worth of rock.

The agency said Saturday in a release the rockslide occurred
sometime overnight Friday. No one was injured. That highway section
has been closed since the Oct. 25 rockslide.

The agency said a construction supervisor for the contractor
working to reopen the interstate discovered it about 1 a.m.
Saturday.

The new rockslide occurred about four miles east of the previous
one, covering a 40-by-50 foot area. The largest rock in 500 cubic
yards of it was the size of a sport utility vehicle.

Agency officials estimate cleanup will take several weeks. They
still project the interstate to fully reopen in March.