[TN-Bird] Smoky Mountains road work

Folks,

If you plan to bird in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the
next 18 months, you may want to print this out for planning.

Charlie

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
News Release

Immediate Release                                     Contact:  Bob
Miller
Date: February 15, 2006                               865/436-1207

                Repaving Work to Begin on Newfound Gap Road

      Great Smoky Mountains National Park Superintendent Dale A.
Ditmanson

has announced that an 18 month project to repave 10 miles of the
Park?s

Newfound Gap Road (U.S. 441) is set to begin on March 1.

      Newfound Gap Road serves as the primary visitor access to many
of

the Park?s most popular trailheads and scenic overlooks and is a

heavily-traveled north-south artery between the tourist hubs of
Cherokee,

NC, and Gatlinburg, TN.  The section to be resurfaced extends from
the

Newfound Gap Parking Area on the Tennessee/North Carolina state line
south

to the Park?s Collins Creek Picnic Area.

      The work will be performed under a $15,039,853 contract with

APAC-Tennessee, Inc. and will be funded and administered by the
Federal

Highway Administration?s Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division.
Completion

of the work is expected in October 2007.

      Superintendent Ditmanson said, ?In negotiating this contract we
made

every effort to minimize the disruption to visitor access to Park

attractions and to our gateway communities.  The contract
incorporates a

variety of work restrictions that are tailored to avoid lane closures

during the busiest periods.?

      ?However,? Ditmanson said, ?Given that paving work cannot be
done in

the coldest months, we could not avoid some traffic delays and still
get

the work done within a reasonable time frame and within available
funds.

The lane-closures will not be allowed during weekend days, holidays,
or

during the month of October, but the schedule varies seasonally, so
we will

work hard to keep visitors and our neighbors informed about the
extent of

traffic delays they can expect.?

                                  (over)

Newfound Gap Repaving ? Page 2



The contract calls for the following work limitations:

      March 1, 2006 through June 14, 2006 No lane closures will be
allowed

on Fridays from noon to 10:00 p.m. or on Saturdays and Sundays
between 8:00

a.m. and 10:00 p.m.  Lane closures will be permitted around the clock
from

10:00 p.m. each Sunday night until noon on Fridays.  When single lane

closures are allowed the contractor may close up to four areas at a
time

but delays at each closure may not exceed 10 minutes at each
location.

      June 15 through August 15 in both 2006 and 2007 No day time
lane

closures will be allowed but the contractor will be permitted to
close

lanes at night.  On Monday through Thursday nights closures can be
imposed

from 9:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m.  On Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights
closures

may occur from 10:00 p.m. until 8:00 a.m.

      August 16 through September 30 in both 2006 and 2007 No lane
closures

will be allowed on Fridays from noon to 10:00 p.m. or on Saturdays
and

Sundays between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.  During the month of
September no

lane closures will be allowed on weekends ? day or night ? due to
heavy

traffic created by car shows.  Lane closures will be permitted around
the

clock from 8:00 a.m. each Monday morning until noon on Fridays.

      October 2006 Due exceedingly heavy leaf season traffic no work
on

Newfound Gap Road will be permitted during the entire month of
October.

      November 1, 2006 through June 14, 2007 No lane closures will be

allowed on Fridays from noon to 10:00 p.m. or on Saturdays and
Sundays

between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.  Lane closures will be permitted
around

the clock from 10:00 p.m. each Sunday night until noon on Fridays. 
When

single lane closures are allowed the contractor may close up to four
areas

at a time but delays at each closure may not exceed 10 minutes at
each

location.

      Beginning in March 2006 the Park has will have a new toll-free

recoding to which will have seasonally updated Newfound Gap Road

construction information at 1-888-355-1849.  Information on unplanned
or

emergency road closures in the Smokies are always available at (865)

436-1200 ext 631 (in Tennessee) or (828) 4971909.



      No work at all will be allowed on national legal holidays, on
Good

Friday or the Monday after Easter. No work will be allowed the Friday
after

Thanksgiving or from December 23 through January 2.

      This section of road was last repaved in 1979 and is badly

deteriorated.  In addition to removal and replacement of old
pavement, the

contract includes installation of over two miles of steel-reinforced
wooden

guardrail, repair of 5,900 feet of stone curbing and rehabilitation
of

2,900 linear feet of culverts.


*******************************************************************
Charlie Muise, Naturalist near
Great Smoky Mountains National Park

"To the dull mind all nature is leaden.  To the illuminated mind 
the whole world sparkles with light."  - Ralph Waldo Emerson

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