Geologists assessing US 129 rock slide

MARYVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Department of Transportation geologists will examine an embankment where rocks slid onto U.S. 129 Sunday morning.

A crew removed enough rock to temporarily open one lane of the highway to relieve a traffic bottleneck, but both lanes of the section known as the Dragon remain closed to motorists.

The Daily Times of Maryville reported TDOT engineers are developing a plan to stabilize the mountainside and reopen the highway, which is the southwestern border of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

With a major rock slide having shut down Interstate 40 just inside North Carolina and another closing U.S. 64 in the Ocoee River Gorge, drivers going between Tennessee and North Carolina have limited options with U.S. 129 now closed.

The closest alternative is U.S. 441 through the national park. It often is closed by snow and ice and a chance of snow was predicted for Tuesday night.