Linda Hughes

Staff Photo by Randall Higgins
Linda Hughes says she and co-owner Karen Turner at Cisco Curiosity Shop in Murray County, Ga., get U.S. 411 motorists looking for the best route to many places, if they can get around the U.S. 64 rock slide.

People who operate businesses along U.S. Highway 411 are used to motorists stopping to ask directions.

But since a big chunk of Polk County's Little Frog Mountain tumbled onto U.S. Highway 64, more wayward motorists than ever are needing reassurance.

In turn, the locals know the back roads that can cut miles and minutes off the official bypass route on Tennessee Highway 68 or Georgia's portion of U.S. Highway 76 through Blue Ridge, Ellijay and Chatsworth.

U.S. 411 long has been known as an alternate route for truckers coming out of Georgia into Tennessee. At some points recently a half dozen were traveling in a row. It's also a direct route for Tennesseans working in Georgia's carpet mills. Now commuters, students and others seeking a way around the rock slide are joining the throng.

"Right now we are seeking a lot of mostly work traffic," said Shyam Nunley of the Tennessee Overhill Heritage Association.

Linda Hughes is co-owner with Karen Turner of the Cisco Curiosity Shop, just south of the Georgia line on U.S. 411 in Murray County. She's noticed a jump in traffic since the Nov. 10 slide.

"We get a lot of people asking for directions anyway," Ms. Hughes said. "But yes, there's more now."

She is from Franklin, N.C., and makes weekly visits there.

"We usually went to (Georgia) Highway 52 to Ellijay. That's quicker for us," she said. But Tennessee's Highway 68 is a familiar route, too.

"If you go that way a lot, it's something that's always on your mind, especially where the rock hangs out over the road: 'Is that going to fall on me?'" she said. "While they are working on (U.S. 64), I hope they take the opportunity to fix those other places, too."

Dinah Rowe, president and CEO of the Chatsworth-Murray County Chamber of Commerce, said motorists coming through the Georgia mountains to U.S. 411 don't seem to stop very often for directions.

"I guess there's been a good job of advertising the routes," she said, "or people are researching online. But if someone asked, I would tell them to take (state highway) 282 to Ellijay."

"We do get some people asking for directions but not many," said Glenda Nichols at Trapper Jim's Market in Eton, Ga. "Usually they want to get to Cleveland."

The recommended Tennessee detour follows state Highway 68 between U.S. 411 at Madisonville and Copperhill.

Tracy Morgan and her husband, Ashley, operate the Hiwassee Corner Market at the intersection of state Route 68 and U.S. 411. They say they get plenty of drivers looking for a way around the rock slide.

"In here one night, it was fifteen after ten, and some people came in. They were lost," Mrs. Morgan said. "They were trying to get to Helen, Ga."

But locals on the north end take state Route 310 at Etowah to Highway 68 at Tellico Plans.

"It's a beautiful drive," Ms. Nunley said, "but it wasn't meant to carry the kind of traffic we see because of the detours."

Quentin Bass, a forest archaeologist with the U.S. Forest Service, stopped last week at Tellico Grains, a well-known bakery in Tellico Plains.

"Everybody takes the back roads and that doesn't help the delays. These are light-duty roads and not made for heavy traffic," he said.

Not everybody wants to avoid the rock slide.

"Yes, we have had some people come in and ask how to get to the rock slide," said Adrian Lambert, at the Polk County Chamber of Commerce in Benton, Tenn.

"I tell them there's a roadblock. They can go that far. But they should just watch the video," she said.

Chattanooga Times Free Press photographer Dan Henry caught the slide live. His dramatic video was shown on many national television news programs.

ON THE WEB

Keep up with progress on clearing the U.S. 64 rock slide at www.tdot.state.tn.us.