Staff report

GATLINBURG — The Tennessee Department of Transportation reopened one lane of U.S. 441 (The Spur) southbound shortly before 3:30 p.m. Monday, nearly two weeks ahead of schedule.

TDOT was forced to close the southbound lanes of the roadway after a rockslide on Jan. 25.

“We understand this has been an inconvenience to many people traveling to and from Gatlinburg and are pleased to see the contractor reopening the roadway ahead of schedule,” said TDOT Commissioner Gerald Nicely.

Since the rockslide occurred, motorists traveling southbound into Gatlinburg have been using one of the northbound lanes. With the southbound lane now reopened, TDOT expects to remove the detour and reopen both northbound lanes to northbound traffic by today, weather permitting.

“It has been our goal since day one to reopen both the north and southbound lanes to free flowing traffic as quickly as possible,” Region One Director Steve Borden said. “We are pleased to reopen one lane of the roadway nearly two weeks early, but there is still much work to be completed on this project.”

TDOT awarded Charles Blalock & Sons Inc. of Sevierville a $713,909 emergency repair contract on Feb. 8 with a provision that the southbound roadway must be safely reopened by March 12.

The project was broken into two phases. Phase one included clearing and stabilizing the slope, constructing a retaining wall and reopening the southbound lanes to traffic. TDOT incorporated a $5,000-per-day incentive into the contract for completion of phase one by March 12.

Blalock has now finished phase one of the clean-up and repair, which included constructing a 100-foot-by-20-foot retaining wall.

Phase two of the project begins immediately with the installation of a stained rock facade, restriping and repaving of the impacted area. The contractor will be required to keep two lanes of traffic open in each direction beginning at 6 a.m. on Fridays through 12:01 a.m. on Mondays.

The entire emergency project is scheduled to be finished on or before April 30.