DECEMBER 17, 2009 ISSUE
NCDOT Reopens Highway 321 Between Blowing Rock and Lenoir
Crews Suspend Blasting Work, Road Closures on Highway Until January 5
After an email campaign was started by local residents to encourage the postponement of blasting on Highway 321 during the holiday season, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) announced Wednesday, December 16, that it would halt all blasting work and cease all road closures along the main thoroughfare until Tuesday, January 5, 2010.
Highway 321, which had been closed for more than one week, reopened on Wednesday afternoon. NCDOT closed down Highway 321 between Kirby Mountain Road and Waterfalls Road on Monday, December 7, to remove boulders that were loosened during blasting on December 3.
From now until January 5, crews from project contractor W.C. English will not close Highway 321 south of Blowing Rock between 12:00 and 2:00 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, or during the scheduled blasting hours on Monday evenings. Highway 321 will remain fully open—24 hours a day, seven days a week—between Blowing Rock and Lenoir during these dates.
“It just seemed reasonable,” said Michael Pettyjohn, NCDOT division engineer. “We had to close the entire roadway in early December, and with the holidays coming up, we decided to cease the closings on Tuesdays and Thursdays [until January 5, 2010] so the road can be open at all times.
“We understand that it’s been hard on people that have to travel that route—that it’s ski season and a lot of people want to get up [to Blowing Rock and the High Country]—and we wanted to help them out over the holidays,” Pettyjohn added.
For more information, click to www.ncdot.gov/traffictravel or call 511, the state’s free travel information line for current travel conditions.
Community Interest
News & Notes
Events
Arts & Entertainment
