Ongoing road closures from Hurricane Helene’s storm damage are creating traffic problems in Polk County, Tennessee, where some commercial truck traffic is using a road in the Cherokee National Forest that has been closed to big rigs.
The state and local authorities have answered with restrictions calling for commercial truck traffic not to use the segment of state Route 30 between U.S. Highways 411 and 64, according to the state department of transportation. The road is open only to local truck traffic making deliveries along the route.
Rae Anne Bradley, spokesperson for the state agency, said in an email officials have seen an increase in truck traffic on some state routes since closures on Interstates 40 and 26 in East Tennessee due to hurricane damage.
“I-26 now has one lane open in each direction for standard-sized loads, and I-40 now has one lane open in each direction for local traffic only,” she said.
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