The colloquial phrase "you can't get there from here" seems far more relevant in this region today than it did just a few weeks ago. A series rock slides Tuesday on U.S. Highway 64 through the Ocoee Gorge in Polk County closed a second vital east-west route that links Tennessee to North Carolina. The resultant detour will more than double travel time for many commuters and travelers accustomed to using the scenic highway.
The accumulated debris is the result of at least two slides near mile marker 17 east of TVA's Ocoee No. 2 dam, The first occurrence was reported by a motorist before sunrise. Clean-up was under way when a second slide, more massive than the first, recovered the road. (A video of the second slide as it occurred, taken by Times Free Press photographer Dan Henry and first posted on this newspaper's web site and then played extensively on national TV, can be viewed at www.timesfreepress.com).
There's no sure timetable for the highway's reopening. At a minimum, officials say, it will be shut down for a week, though a longer closure is possible, if not likely. One thing is certain. Geologists, engineers and other experts will have to examine the roadbed and the mountain to make sure both are stable enough for clean-up and repair to begin.
In the meantime, detours will be posted. Depending on departure and destination, the extra time involved could be considerable. Motorists traveling from, say, Cleveland to McCaysville, Ga., or Chattanooga to Copper will have to drive north on I-75 to Sweetwater to reach state Route 68 to complete their journey.
The U.S. Highway 64 slide follows by a little over two weeks a similar event that shut down I-40 in North Carolina between Knoxville and Asheville. Repairs and clean-up there could take months rather than weeks. It's difficult for experts to determine precisely what caused the slides, but recent rains in the mountains -- as much as 15 inches since September -- are likely to be a factor. Whatever the cause, the slides and the inconvenience and dangersthey've posed are reason for concern.
They're reason for conversation as well. Talk about building a major east-west route that bypasses mountainous routes has been desultory in recent years, The events of the last couple of weeks on I-40 and Highway 64 strongly suggest they should proceed with a bit more urgency.
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