In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River.
While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own.
I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921.
A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee line." (1) This study would look at a proposed highway from the Cove Creek Post Office north along the Pigeon River, around Waterville Lake, intersect Tennessee Highway 32 near the state line, and end at US 25 in Newport. (2)
The Pigeon River Gorge study, along with a study on improving the existing US 25/70 corridor through Madison County via a water-level route along the French Broad River, was completed in late 1948. The French Broad Route of US 25/70 through Marshall and Hot Springs had been the long-established travel route between Asheville and Eastern Tennessee. Confusion on whether or not the two studies were related to each other was amplified when in December of that year, outgoing North Carolina Governor R. Gregg Cherry awarded $450,000 in surplus highway funding for the construction of the Pigeon River route. (3,4)
Though funding was allocated, no construction started as it was also unknown how the route would be built. Questions arose on whether the highway corridor would be a 'farm-to-market' or primary road. (5) Initial thoughts were that the road should be 22 to 24 feet wide with five-foot shoulders and built with a macadam surface. (6)
In this pre-Interstate era, the question of which route would be an 'inter-regional' highway arose. Madison County, Asheville area, and other Western NC communities were concerned that the new Pigeon River Route would lessen the importance of the existing US 25-70 highway (French Broad River Route) that had served the area for over two decades. (6) French Broad Route backers pointed to the potential loss of tourism dollars.
Haywood County and the Town of Waynesville heavily supported the Pigeon River Route. They pointed to the 1921 creation of the North Carolina Highway System that called for a "...county-seat-to-county-seat system of 'hard surface and other dependable highways.'" (7) Haywood County pointed out that this included connection to county seats of neighboring states and that the Pigeon River Route complies to that directive, "They forget that for 25 or more years they have had a paved road to Tennessee, while we have waited patiently for ours." (8)
The summer of 1951 was one of the defining points in what would eventually become Interstate 40. That June, a public hearing in Asheville was held to discuss the two corridors. It was questioned if a survey of the French Broad River corridor had occurred, and the backers of that route requested another.
July saw Governor W. Kerr Scott award another $500,000 towards the construction of the Pigeon River Route. (9) The award cemented the eventuality of a Waynesville-to-Tennessee highway. Yet, French Broad River backers continued to push for an improved water-level US 25/70 route along that corridor. (10)
Two years later, the first construction project on the Pigeon River Route was awarded. A $1.3 million contract was awarded to grade just over 6.5 miles of eventual roadway from the Tennessee line to Cold Springs Creek Road. (Exit 7 on today's I-40). (11) This project would only grade for a two-lane highway and the excavation of one tunnel. Also, if the highway were to see any further completion in North Carolina or into Tennessee, federal highway money would be needed. (12)
The announcement immediately sparked the ire of Madison and Buncombe Counties and City of Asheville officials. The published 1947 map of proposed Interstate corridors had the Asheville-Knoxville link follow the existing US 25/70 French Broad River route.
By April 1955, the NC State Highway Commission had 'tentatively confirmed' the Pigeon River route for the new Interstate; backers of the French Broad Route then successfully delayed the final decision by urging the commission to undertake a complete study of the French Broad River corridor. (14) The reprieve did not last long.
Although an Asheville engineer named T.M. Howerton completed a study of two different French Broad River routes, the Highway Commission voted 9-3 in favor of the Pigeon River route in June 1956. While Howerton's study pointed to a lower cost for the French Broad route by 50% ($15 vs. $30 million), SHC officials estimated that the financials were the reverse, with the Pigeon River route being less expensive. They also stated the French Broad Route "was not feasible." (14) Suspicions rose throughout the state about the Highway Commission's decision to award without a fully sanctioned study completed. (15) In addition, Governor Luther Hodges supported a decision after a survey of both routes; however, he conceded that he had no veto power over the decisions of the State Highway Commission. (16)
The Bureau of Public Roads would intervene in October 1955 requesting an "economic justification survey" of the Pigeon River Route before designating the route of the Asheville-Knoxville corridor. (17) Six months later, on April 12, 1956, the Bureau of Public Roads officially recognized the Pigeon River route as the corridor of the Asheville-Knoxville link of the Interstate Highway System. (18) The corridor would soon receive the Interstate 40 designation.
With the Interstate designation, the Pigeon River Gorge corridor would need to be redesigned. No longer a two-lane road, the future roadway would now be a four-lane Interstate highway. As a result of the new requirements for the highway, further work was delayed until the early 1960s. (19) Interstate 40 through the Pigeon River Gorge would finally open on October 24, 1968.
The ultimate cost of the project was $33 million. Nearly 22 million cubic yards of landscape were excavated. Three tunnels (two eastbound, one westbound) averaging 1,100 feet in length were constructed. A fourth tunnel (the second westbound tunnel) was eliminated when the roadway was raised 70 feet. (20)
From its opening, the highway was considered a scenic gateway to Tennessee and the Smokies. The relatively remote area affords stunning views, especially during early spring and fall. The Interstate features two at-grade access points to National Forest Roads that serve Pisgah National Forest. Recently, the first of several planned wildlife crossings and underpasses have been incorporated into the highway.
Despite its surrounding beauty and features, Interstate 40 through the Pigeon River Gorge has been marred by frequent highway closures due to rockslides, flooding, or even bad accidents.
Many excavation cuts were made through thick shale, and engineers admitted that "the road will be bothered by slides for years to come" (21). On February 12, 1969, not long after the Interstate opened, the first rockslide that would close I-40 occurred.
From the late 1970s through 1985, all travel lanes of Interstate 40 shifted towards the Pigeon River due to safety concerns from frequent slides. Eastbound lanes shifted over to what were then the westbound lanes; the westbound lanes were then constructed closer to the Pigeon River. From there, the slopes were stabilized as much as possible by clearing rocks, isolated blasting, rock bolts and mesh, and barrier walls. (22) The eastbound lanes that collapsed into the Pigeon River during Hurricane Helene were built during this time.
Not long after the alignment shift finished in 1985, a rockslide at mile marker 4 closed the highway for nearly nine months. (22)
Since then, continued repairs and safety upgrades have been made to the highway between slides. The area's geography makes the perfect fix next to impossible. The ultimate solution would cost millions, possibly billions, of dollars to complete and would certainly face numerous financial and environmental hurdles.
Most engineers admit that if a routing decision were made today, using modern technology and standards, Interstate 40 through the Pigeon River Gorge would not be built.
After a massive rockslide in October 2009 shut down Interstate 40 through the gorge for months, the Asheville Citizen-Times spoke to a former NCDOT engineer about the highway. “I would say today, if we had no road through Haywood, with the advances in geotechnology, we would never try to build an interstate-type road down there, unless there was just no place else to put it," retired NCDOT engineer Stan Hyatt said. “It's just an area that's full of nothing but fractured rock waiting to fall off.” (22)
The French Broad Route along the US 25/70 corridor never saw the full upgrades. Instead, elected officials and community leaders looked at extending Interstate 26 northwards towards Ohio. As early as 1964, a push began to request the federal government to approve and fund Interstate 26 north from Asheville toward Ohio. (23)
This was accomplished through constructing the Appalachian Development Highway System Corridor B, which generally follows US 23 to Columbus, Ohio. By 2004, Interstate 26 was extended north to Kingsport, Tennessee. Corridor B/Interstate 26 has given Northern Buncombe and Madison Counties their Interstate link northwards.
Interstate 40's history through the mountains of Western North Carolina is almost as curvy as the four lanes of traffic that wind through them. As time moves forward, more chapters will be written as modern engineering attempts to find balance with the ever-shifting whims of nature.
While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own.
 |
| Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. |
I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921.
A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee line." (1) This study would look at a proposed highway from the Cove Creek Post Office north along the Pigeon River, around Waterville Lake, intersect Tennessee Highway 32 near the state line, and end at US 25 in Newport. (2)
The Pigeon River Gorge study, along with a study on improving the existing US 25/70 corridor through Madison County via a water-level route along the French Broad River, was completed in late 1948. The French Broad Route of US 25/70 through Marshall and Hot Springs had been the long-established travel route between Asheville and Eastern Tennessee. Confusion on whether or not the two studies were related to each other was amplified when in December of that year, outgoing North Carolina Governor R. Gregg Cherry awarded $450,000 in surplus highway funding for the construction of the Pigeon River route. (3,4)
Though funding was allocated, no construction started as it was also unknown how the route would be built. Questions arose on whether the highway corridor would be a 'farm-to-market' or primary road. (5) Initial thoughts were that the road should be 22 to 24 feet wide with five-foot shoulders and built with a macadam surface. (6)
In this pre-Interstate era, the question of which route would be an 'inter-regional' highway arose. Madison County, Asheville area, and other Western NC communities were concerned that the new Pigeon River Route would lessen the importance of the existing US 25-70 highway (French Broad River Route) that had served the area for over two decades. (6) French Broad Route backers pointed to the potential loss of tourism dollars.
Haywood County and the Town of Waynesville heavily supported the Pigeon River Route. They pointed to the 1921 creation of the North Carolina Highway System that called for a "...county-seat-to-county-seat system of 'hard surface and other dependable highways.'" (7) Haywood County pointed out that this included connection to county seats of neighboring states and that the Pigeon River Route complies to that directive, "They forget that for 25 or more years they have had a paved road to Tennessee, while we have waited patiently for ours." (8)
The summer of 1951 was one of the defining points in what would eventually become Interstate 40. That June, a public hearing in Asheville was held to discuss the two corridors. It was questioned if a survey of the French Broad River corridor had occurred, and the backers of that route requested another.
July saw Governor W. Kerr Scott award another $500,000 towards the construction of the Pigeon River Route. (9) The award cemented the eventuality of a Waynesville-to-Tennessee highway. Yet, French Broad River backers continued to push for an improved water-level US 25/70 route along that corridor. (10)
Two years later, the first construction project on the Pigeon River Route was awarded. A $1.3 million contract was awarded to grade just over 6.5 miles of eventual roadway from the Tennessee line to Cold Springs Creek Road. (Exit 7 on today's I-40). (11) This project would only grade for a two-lane highway and the excavation of one tunnel. Also, if the highway were to see any further completion in North Carolina or into Tennessee, federal highway money would be needed. (12)
 |
| Western NC road construction projects in 1954. The Pigeon River Road (what would be come I-40) is the dotted line to the east of NC 284 in Haywood County. A 6.5-mile grading project was underway at the time. (12) |
Enter the Interstate Highway System - and the federal highway dollars that come with it. In 1954, Harry E. Buchanan, commissioner of the 14th Highway Division, met with Tennessee officials on how best to link the two states between the French Broad and Pigeon River routes. (12) At a meeting of the Southeastern Association of Highway Officials in Nashville, Buchanan met with Tennessee officials - who wanted to shift the proposed Asheville-Knoxville Interstate Corridor to follow the Pigeon River. Tennessee Highway officials urged the North Carolina Highway Commission to propose the changed corridor to the Bureau of Public Roads. (13)
The announcement immediately sparked the ire of Madison and Buncombe Counties and City of Asheville officials. The published 1947 map of proposed Interstate corridors had the Asheville-Knoxville link follow the existing US 25/70 French Broad River route.
By April 1955, the NC State Highway Commission had 'tentatively confirmed' the Pigeon River route for the new Interstate; backers of the French Broad Route then successfully delayed the final decision by urging the commission to undertake a complete study of the French Broad River corridor. (14) The reprieve did not last long.
 |
| 1958 Esso/General Drafting Map showing the Pigeon River Road under construction. |
The Bureau of Public Roads would intervene in October 1955 requesting an "economic justification survey" of the Pigeon River Route before designating the route of the Asheville-Knoxville corridor. (17) Six months later, on April 12, 1956, the Bureau of Public Roads officially recognized the Pigeon River route as the corridor of the Asheville-Knoxville link of the Interstate Highway System. (18) The corridor would soon receive the Interstate 40 designation.
 |
| March 1957 aerial of grading construction of the Pigeon River Highway. Work on the road began in 1953 - before being included in the Interstate Highway System. It was originally graded for two lanes - and changed to a four-lane Interstate after the corridor was chosen for Interstate 40 in 1956. (NCDOT Historical Aerial Imagery Index) |
With the Interstate designation, the Pigeon River Gorge corridor would need to be redesigned. No longer a two-lane road, the future roadway would now be a four-lane Interstate highway. As a result of the new requirements for the highway, further work was delayed until the early 1960s. (19) Interstate 40 through the Pigeon River Gorge would finally open on October 24, 1968.
The ultimate cost of the project was $33 million. Nearly 22 million cubic yards of landscape were excavated. Three tunnels (two eastbound, one westbound) averaging 1,100 feet in length were constructed. A fourth tunnel (the second westbound tunnel) was eliminated when the roadway was raised 70 feet. (20)
From its opening, the highway was considered a scenic gateway to Tennessee and the Smokies. The relatively remote area affords stunning views, especially during early spring and fall. The Interstate features two at-grade access points to National Forest Roads that serve Pisgah National Forest. Recently, the first of several planned wildlife crossings and underpasses have been incorporated into the highway.
Despite its surrounding beauty and features, Interstate 40 through the Pigeon River Gorge has been marred by frequent highway closures due to rockslides, flooding, or even bad accidents.
Many excavation cuts were made through thick shale, and engineers admitted that "the road will be bothered by slides for years to come" (21). On February 12, 1969, not long after the Interstate opened, the first rockslide that would close I-40 occurred.
From the late 1970s through 1985, all travel lanes of Interstate 40 shifted towards the Pigeon River due to safety concerns from frequent slides. Eastbound lanes shifted over to what were then the westbound lanes; the westbound lanes were then constructed closer to the Pigeon River. From there, the slopes were stabilized as much as possible by clearing rocks, isolated blasting, rock bolts and mesh, and barrier walls. (22) The eastbound lanes that collapsed into the Pigeon River during Hurricane Helene were built during this time.
Not long after the alignment shift finished in 1985, a rockslide at mile marker 4 closed the highway for nearly nine months. (22)
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| I-40 Westbound at the Harmon's Den exit. (Exit 7) A recent bridge rehabilitation project at this interchange included the addition of two wildlife underpasses. |
Since then, continued repairs and safety upgrades have been made to the highway between slides. The area's geography makes the perfect fix next to impossible. The ultimate solution would cost millions, possibly billions, of dollars to complete and would certainly face numerous financial and environmental hurdles.
Most engineers admit that if a routing decision were made today, using modern technology and standards, Interstate 40 through the Pigeon River Gorge would not be built.
After a massive rockslide in October 2009 shut down Interstate 40 through the gorge for months, the Asheville Citizen-Times spoke to a former NCDOT engineer about the highway. “I would say today, if we had no road through Haywood, with the advances in geotechnology, we would never try to build an interstate-type road down there, unless there was just no place else to put it," retired NCDOT engineer Stan Hyatt said. “It's just an area that's full of nothing but fractured rock waiting to fall off.” (22)
 |
| Interstate 40 Westbound near the Tennessee Line. This is a great example of the scenery and the geological challenges that face Interstate 40 through the Pigeon River Gorge. |
The French Broad Route along the US 25/70 corridor never saw the full upgrades. Instead, elected officials and community leaders looked at extending Interstate 26 northwards towards Ohio. As early as 1964, a push began to request the federal government to approve and fund Interstate 26 north from Asheville toward Ohio. (23)
This was accomplished through constructing the Appalachian Development Highway System Corridor B, which generally follows US 23 to Columbus, Ohio. By 2004, Interstate 26 was extended north to Kingsport, Tennessee. Corridor B/Interstate 26 has given Northern Buncombe and Madison Counties their Interstate link northwards.
Interstate 40's history through the mountains of Western North Carolina is almost as curvy as the four lanes of traffic that wind through them. As time moves forward, more chapters will be written as modern engineering attempts to find balance with the ever-shifting whims of nature.
All photos/scans taken by post author unless otherwise noted.
Site Navigation:
Sources & Links:
- Interstate 40 @ NCRoads.com Annex ---Mike Roberson
- NCDOT Historic Aerial Imagery Index
- Interstate 40 @ AARoads.com
- (1) "Haywood Road Plan Will Be Given Study." The Asheville Citizen. July 28, 1945. 6.
- (2) "Waynesville, Newport Highway Plans Talked." Asheville Citizen-Times. September 2, 1945. A5.
- (3) "U.S. Highway 70 Surveyed To Tennessee." The Asheville Times. December 24, 1948. 9.
- (4) "Highway 70 Westward." Hickory Daily Record. December 24, 1948.
- (5) Marshall News-Record. "Mountain Views - That Highway Matter." The Asheville Citizen. January 13, 1949.
- (6) "Major Obstacles Still Ahead For Pigeon River Road Project." The Asheville Citizen. January 24, 1949.
- (7) Brown, Cecil Kenneth. The State Highway System of North Carolina - Its Evolution and Present Status. Chapel Hill, The University of North Carolina Press, 1931.
- (8) Waynesville Mountaineer. "Mountain Views - Haywood Answers Buncombe and Madison." The Asheville Citizen. June 18, 1951. 4.
- (9) "Scott Paves Way For Pigeon River Road With Funds Boost." The Asheville Citizen. July 5, 1951. 1.
- (10) "Six Counties To Continue To Fight For French Broad Valley Highway." The Asheville Citizen. July 6, 1951. Section 2, Page 1.
- (11) "$1,316,172 Bid Submitted For Pigeon River Road Job." The Asheville Times. February 25, 1953. 7.
- (12) Damtoft, Walt. "Growing Traffic Creates Need For Better Highways In WNC." The Asheville Citizen-Times. September 26, 1954. B1.
- (13) Russ, W. Curtis. "Pigeon River Road Is Step Nearer To Part Of System." The Asheville Citizen. February 11, 1955. 1
- (14) Fleming, Karl. "SHC Decision Postponed At Highway Route Meet." The Asheville Citizen. April 19, 1955. 1.
- (15) "Pigeon or French Broad?" Winston-Salem Journal. July 5, 1955. 4.
- (16) "SHC Decides on Pigeon River Highway." The Asheville Citizen. July 1, 1955. 1.
- (17) "Road Survey Request Meeting May Be Held." The Asheville Citizen. October 1, 1955. Section 2, Page 1.
- (18) Johnesy, Arthur. "Highway To Be Routed Along Pigeon River." Greensboro Daily News. April 13, 1956. 12.
- (19) "Pigeon River Survey To Start In 10 Days." The Asheville Times. February 26, 1960. 1.
- (20) Munn, Porter. "I-40 - N.C.'s China Wall." The Charlotte Observer. April 16, 1968. Section B, Page 1.
- (21) Terrell, Bob. "I-40 Link Defies Nature In A Wilderness Plunge." The Asheville Citizen-Times. October 20, 1968. 1.
- (22) Boyle, John. "I-40 path spelled trouble." Asheville Citizen-Times. November 1, 2009. 1.
- (23) "Chamber Enlists Taylors Help In Extending I-26 To The North." The Asheville Times. January 22, 1964. 3.
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