The WNC Nature Center will reopen to the public March 17, five and a half months after closing due to the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene, which caused significant flooding that destroyed roads and the main bridge to the Nature Center. 

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Waste Management’s Underground Storage Tank Section (NCDEQ-DWM-UST), has launched the Bridge Loan Program to assist owners and operators with testing and repairing surface infrastructure for their petroleum underground storage tanks (USTs) affected by Hurricane Helene.

The Sylva Town Council will vote next month on changes to its fee schedule regarding costs for renting out Bridge Park.

“I think it still keeps the fees reasonable for renting that facility,” said Town Manager Paige Dowling. 

A contractor for the N.C. Department of Transportation has begun work on one of the busiest roads in Haywood County that the DOT hopes will improve Russ Avenue from U.S. 74 to Main Street. 

The new Blue Ridge Parkway bridge over Interstate 26 in Asheville is now just 3 feet from connecting, but several operations and several weeks remain before the two sides will meet.

Over the coming weeks, maintenance work will begin on six bridges on the Blue Ridge Parkway, including two in the Asheville and Linville Gorge areas.

A much-needed, much-lamented bridge replacement project planned for U.S. 74 in Haywood County will be postponed, per a June 10 statement from North Carolina Department of Transportation Division 14 engineer Garrett Higdon.

A bridge replacement project underway in the Pigeon River Gorge will temporarily close a section of Interstate 40, but once completed it will make the highway a safer thoroughfare not only for vehicles, but for wildlife as well. 

As Haywood County looks to put the Coronavirus Pandemic squarely in its rear-view mirror, a North Carolina Department of Transportation bridge replacement project smack dab in the center of the county could end up causing a colossal multi-year traffic jam with far-reaching financial implications. 

Plans for a $14 million bridge project in Dillsboro have changed, with the project now expected to take nine months instead of three years and to cost $3 million less than originally proposed.