Helene damage repairs underway on Blue Ridge Parkway

Six months after Helene wreaked havoc on western North Carolina, roughly one-third of the 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway remains closed, but the National Parks Service has begun projects to repair the damage.

While there are areas all throughout the parkway that need to be addressed, these projects focus on emergency roadway repairs at eight slide locations, with the goal of stabilizing roads, removing debris and repairing guardrails. 

NPS has identified at least 57 known landslides, with more still being found across nearly 200 miles in North Carolina. Most have been found in the area between Mount Mitchell and Linville Falls. 

As Blue Ridge Parkway Superintendent Tracy Swartout says, one of the major concerns moving forward is trying to prevent further landslides from happening.

“We're not just repairing what's damaged, but in some cases, we are re-engineering parts of the park to be more sustainable," Swartout said. "In the National Parks Service, when we're embarking on construction, we're always looking at how we can improve resiliency of the taxpayers' investment in the Blue Ridge Parkway or in any national park unit.”

Officials stressed the importance of staying out of closed areas of the parkway, not only as a matter of safety, but to not impede reconstruction efforts.

“The recovery from Hurricane Helene is going to be a marathon, not a sprint," Swartout said. 

Funding for the projects will come from multiple sources, including a portion of the $2 billion supplemental disaster funding allocated to NPS, as well as $25 million in Emergency Relief for Federally Owned Roads, or ERFO.

Timelines and details about specific projects can be found on the NPS website.

The eight emergency roadway repairs are happening at the following locations:

• Milepost 224.9, north of Doughton Park
• Milepost 284, Boone, NC, vicinity.
• Milepost 306.8, south of Beacon Heights
• Milepost 342 to 343, near Spruce Pine, NC
• Milepost 375.6, near Weaverville, NC, at Bull Gap
• Milepost 380.5, north of Asheville, NC, near Haw Creek
• Milepost 401.6, north of Mt. Pisgah
• Milepost 421.8, Waynesville, NC, vicinity.