Flooding closes I-40 in NC near Tennessee state line. It won’t reopen right away
Interstate 40 is closed again through the Pigeon River Gorge near the Tennessee state line, this time because of a rock slide and flooding on the Tennessee side.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation said Thursday that the main connection between North Carolina and points west will likely be closed for at least two weeks.
Westbound traffic in North Carolina can go only as far as Exit 20, U.S. 276, about 20 miles from the state line. The N.C. Department of Transportation is warning westbound drivers as far away as the Triangle that they’ll need to take a detour around the gorge to get to Tennessee.
Eastbound traffic from Tennessee is also blocked.
Photos posted by TDOT showed cars and trucks stuck in water-covering the highway at Exit 451, Waterville Road, less than a mile from the state line. TDOT closed the highway about 5 p.m. Wednesday and removed median barriers to allow stuck traffic to turn around, said spokesman Mark Nagi.
“That area got a lot of heavy rain earlier this afternoon, and more rain likely tonight,” he wrote in an email about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. “No ETA for road opening currently.”
The rock slide occurred about a mile west of the interchange. Crews were working Thursday morning to clear mud and rock that had come down the mountain and were assessing the condition of the road.
“A massive amount of water still flowing off the slope in this area,” Nagi wrote at 9:20 a.m.
I-40 was completely shut down for months through the Pigeon River Gorge after the remnants of Hurricane Helene caused historic flooding last September that washed away sections of the eastbound lanes.
NCDOT and TDOT used the remaining westbound lanes to reopen the highway to two-way traffic in February.
This time, the floodwaters came off the mountain above the road, rather than from the river. TDOT stressed that the damage was not as extensive as after Helene but that it would take “at least two weeks” for water to recede and cleanup and repairs to take place.
From the Triangle and Triad, Tennessee-bound drivers are urged to take either I-77 or U.S. 52 and I-74 north to I-81. Drivers in the mountains or Asheville area are being directed to take I-26 west to I-81.
This story was originally published June 18, 2025 at 9:14 PM.
