Motorists drove for the first time in years on the Blue Ridge Parkway between Bent Mountain and U.S. 220 in Clearbrook Thursday morning after the federal government concluded a lengthy landslide repair and reopened the scenic highway.
“We love, love, love the parkway,” exclaimed Dennis Humston of Bent Mountain, pausing at Adney Gap entrance in Bent Mountain with his wife Lorna, who was driving.
The National Park Service announced the reopening in an emailed press release shortly before 9 a.m.
Coinciding with a rainstorm, a 150-foot section of the parkway fell away in May 2020. The design, funding and construction process moved slowly to reopen the road. A nearly 15-mile section was closed for 36 months and 17 days.
“It’s ridiculous,” said Jane Embrey of Franklin County, who lives near Adney Gap. “You know, it’s been three years.”
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Embrey nonetheless enjoyed walking on the blocked section that the government closed to vehicles but not to pedestrians for a portion of the time.
But the closure interrupted travel patterns for residents of the plateau communities such as Bent Mountain, Copper Hill and Check who had preferred the parkway for going to and from the Roanoke Valley. From that point forward, all vehicles navigated U.S. 221, which descends and ascends the mountainside in a long and challenging series of S-turns.
News of the reopening brought joy in Bent Mountain.
“It’s about time,” said Jerry Shaver, who farms the expansive field at the Adney Gap entrance.
During the first few hours after the reopening, two northbound motorcyclists paused to speak to a reporter at the Adney Gap entrance. They stopped where a detour through the Roanoke Valley used to begin.
“I lucked out just by happenstance,” George Spickard of Alabama said before continuing north through the freshly opened gates.
When the landslide incident occurred, officials closed the parkway at the gates nearest the landslide, bracketing the damaged section between mile markers 121.4, at U.S. 220, to 135.9, Adney Gap. Officials pledged to fix it but could not say when.
Crews posted detour signs, forcing parkway travelers to bypass the closed section through the Roanoke Valley. Officials shifted tourism messaging to encourage checking out attractions on the valley floor.
“This route still features beautiful views and it also introduces you to some of the unique things to do in our region in Southwest Roanoke County and along Route 419,” Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge said at the time.
Last summer, as roadway repair progressed, the repair bill stood at an estimated $2.2 million and authorities predicted they would reopen the byway in October 2022.
But the project later took an unexpected turn. The parkway announced that crews would need to install 130 feet of new culvert because the existing culvert had failed. To leave time to also repave the road, the reopening was pushed off to this spring.
The new repair estimate is $2.5 million, parkway spokeswoman Leesa Brandon said Thursday.
In the Roanoke region, one other long-term section closure remains in effect, the Roanoke Mountain Loop Road, which was closed after a 2018 landslide. According to the parkway’s website, it is closed until further notice.
In addition, the parkway said Thursday that previously announced bridge repair projects at milepost 61.6 (Virginia 130) and 121.4 (U.S. 220) are now estimated to begin later this month, having been delayed to “material supply chain issues.”
The parkway estimated that work will be completed by the end of September, and primarily will be managed with single lane daytime closures. However, motorists may experience full nighttime closures with short detours.
An estimated 15.7 million people traveled along the 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway in 2022, once again making the scenic highway one of the nation’s most-visited national parks.