Blue Ridge Parkway Ax Use Closed Asheville Citizen Times

The Blue Ridge Parkway is open year round except for sections that may be closed due to ice and snow, storm damage, or for construction or maintenance activities.  Weather-related closures can change quickly during the winter. Even in summer months, winds at higher elevations have been known to bring down limbs that close sections of the Parkway. An open Parkway is a safe Parkway.

Be sure to check road conditions before you travel and during your visit to ensure the areas you want to visit are open.

Blue Ridge Parkway road closure information is available on the National Park Service website on a regularly-updated (but not real-time) chart of Parkway sections, noting whether they are closed, open or ungated. Ungated sections do not have physical gates that can be closed; these sections are open except in emergency situations.

Ice and snow may not melt quickly due to extreme temperatures, lack of sunlight in constantly shaded areas, or thawing and refreezing on bridges, so some Parkway sections may be closed for extended periods in the winter.  These sections are only opened when they are safe for travel.

Some sections of the Parkway cannot be gated and closed, and visitors should exercise extreme caution when traveling in these areas during the winter. It is important to observe all signs and information posted on the NPS website. In certain severe circumstances, sections may be closed to all traffic – including hikers, bicyclists and skiers.

Annually, Blue Ridge Parkway  staff conduct boom axe operations to help control vegetation growth along the Parkway. This work, using a large tractor with a long arm cutting head, helps ensure safe sight distances and a clear right-of-way. This tractor must remain in the travel lanes during operation to properly perform its work while cutting the banks and road shoulders. Both lanes of the Parkway will be closed to all activity (cars, bicycles, and hikers) in active work zones to ensure the safety of the maintenance workers as well as Parkway visitors. Planned boom axe closures begin in November and continue through early spring. Because these short-term closures occur during daytime hours (8am to 4pm on weekdays only) and are dependent on favorable weather conditions, they may not be listed on the road closure chart and don't usually have a signed detour route.

Current Road Projects include:

Roanoke River Bridge Repairs

Repairs on the Roanoke River Bridge at Milepost 114.7 that began in May 2021 are scheduled to be complete by the end of June 2022. This project includes concrete repairs to bridge piers, reconstruction and drainage repairs to approach areas, removal of existing asphalt surface and waterproofing membrane, installation of new waterproofing membrane and asphalt surface, and repainting of the steel super structure of the bridge. Repairs will require a full closure of this area (no access to motorists, cyclists or pedestrians); southbound drivers will need to detour at Milepost 112.2 (VA Route 24) in Vinton, VA and take US 221 through Roanoke to Adney Gap at Milepost 135.9. The Parkway will, however, be open from Milepost 121.4 (US 220) to Milepost 115.5 (Explore Park) providing Parkway access to Explore Park from the South. A minor slope repair project is underway at Milepost 119.7 through September 2022 which will be managed using single-lane traffic controls. In this area, drivers should anticipate delays up to 15 minutes, a shifted lane alignment, and a speed reduction to 35 mph. Roanoke VA is offering a detailed detour route with some places of interest along the way on their website. See below for further details about road repairs in the Roanoke, VA area.

Parkway Road Repair in Roanoke, VA

Significant rainfall in spring 2020 caused a full road failure roughly one hundred and fifty feet (150′) in length at Milepost 127.9. W ork has begun in this area in 2022 and is expected to last through September 2022. Due to the hazardous nature of this slope failure and the construction work in process, the section of Blue Ridge Parkway from U.S. Hwy 220 (Milepost 121.4) to Adney Gap at U.S. Hwy 221 (Milepost 135.9) is closed to all uses, including motor vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians.

Updates to the road status are made on the park website at www.nps.gov/blri and via press release.

Additional Road Maintenance Projects Scheduled for 2022

Pavement Preservation is now occurring in areas from Milepost 217 to 385 from May to September 2022 that will require short-term closures of individual sites.

Reconstruction and Repaving is scheduled to occur from Milepost 229 to 305 from Summer/Fall 2022 through Fall 2024. Both lanes will be paved simultaneously, requiring full closure of 12-15 mile segments at a time. Detours should be posted.

The Laurel Fork Bridge at Milepost 249 is scheduled for replacement starting June 9, 2022 through November 2024. The Parkway is fully closed between MP 248.1 and 249.3 and a detour should be posted from MP 248.1 to MP 258.7. See detour route map below for details and access to the Northwest Trading Post (located at the southern end of the detour at MP 258.7) and Doughton Park (located North of the closure at MP 241.1). Hikers on the Mountains to Sea Trail will experience an approximately 200-yard reroute at the base of the bridge and should follow the fence line around the project site.

Slope repairs at Milepost 277 are scheduled to occur from the week of April 11, 2022 to September 2022 with a full closure from Milepost 276.4 at U.S. Hwy 421 to Milepost 280.9 at Old US-421 near Deep Gap. Detour information should be available on variable message boards around the project. See detour route map below for details.

Slope repairs at Milepost 323 are scheduled to occur from the week of April 11, 2022 to September 2022. Single-lane closures and temporary traffic signals will be in place. Delays are possible, especially on weekends and holidays. This necessary work will help to maintain the roadway and keep it in good repair for many years to come.

Parkway Road Maintenance–New Bridge Construction in Asheville Area

Work is underway on a project to widen approximately 16.9 miles of I-26 from U.S. Hwy 64, in Hendersonville, to Brevard Road, in Asheville, NC. The widening of I-26 requires the installation of a new bridge on the Blue Ridge Parkway over the I-26 interstate at interstate mile marker 36 (near Parkway Milepost 391). Construction of the new bridge also requires realigning approximately 3000 linear feet of Parkway. Officials from NCDOT, the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of the Interior and the Blue Ridge Parkway have agreed on a general plan to build the new bridge and remove the existing structure. The Parkway bridge project is expected to be complete in Fall 2023. More information about the Parkway bridge project is available here.

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Source: https://www.blueridgeparkway.org/road-conditions/

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