NCDOT clarifies that West Virginia coal miners did not fully construct the access road near Chimney Rock after Hurricane Helene. The agency is actively working to repair the storm-damaged highway, with completion expected in 4-6 weeks and a full restoration projected to take 2-3 years.
Photo courtesy of NCDOT
Helene’s destructive path through the state brought high winds, record flooding and killed more than 100 people, with many still unaccounted for.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) on Nov. 1 cleared up online misinformation over reports that West Virginia coal miners constructed an access road destroyed by Hurricane Helene between Bat Cave into Chimney Rock.
An agency spokesperson said that the road is still unsafe for vehicular traffic.
NCDOT was responding to viral videos posted of a U.S. Highway 64/74A/N.C.9 connector road reportedly created between the two storm-ravaged communities by the miners.
Asheville's WLOS-TV sent a news crew to the Bat Cave site in Henderson County on the morning of Nov. 1 to see the dirt road, but a barricade at the intersection of Brandon Forest Road and U.S. 64 noted that the highway into the town remains closed.
Despite the barricade, though, numerous drivers were seen passing it and going straight into Bat Cave.
David Uchiyama, NCDOT's western communication manager, said the miners did not build an access road further down near Bat Cave that is safe to travel on.
"We appreciate the intentions of a mining crew from West Virginia," he elaborated. "There, the creation of a path — not enough to support vehicular traffic — south from Bat Cave occurred on private land and beyond the purview of transportation officials."
The miners were among many volunteers from all across the country who have helped western North Carolina residents recover in diverse ways in a wide variety of locations in the wake of the hurricane's stampede through the region Sept. 26-27, Uchiyama explained.
Helene's destructive path through the state brought high winds, record flooding and killed more than 100 people, with many still unaccounted for.
A recent video posted on Instagram showed a speeded-up point-of-view shot of a dirt road between Bat Cave and Chimney Rock reportedly built by the coal miners, according to the Asheville TV station.
At the same time, internet reports stated that Alpha Metallurgical Resources (AMR), based in West Virginia, had some of its miners come to the Bat Cave-Chimney Rock area to create the access road for local residents.
WLOS-TV contacted the company Oct. 25 to ask if its coal miners came to Bat Cave, but AMR declined comment.
NCDOT Already At Work on Preliminary Repairs
In responding to the weakened hurricane's destruction along the critical Bat Cave-Chimney Rock highway corridor, Uchiyama also noted:
- NCDOT crews from its Divisions 13 and 14 created some of the first connections in the form of all-terrain vehicle paths, to reach stranded residents off U.S. 64/74A in the Bat Cave-Chimney Rock area, southeast of Asheville.
- The transportation department and crews from Wright Brothers Construction in Charleston, Tenn., have been moving the Broad River to the west in order to reestablish a temporary two-lane gravel road where it should be located.
- They also are working north from Lake Lure through Chimney Rock, both in Rutherford County, to restore the highway to the location of the washed-out road and restore damage to private property.
- Construction of the machined road and temporary river relocation should be complete in 4-6 weeks.
- For the near future, the two-lane gravel road will remain for local, construction, and emergency local traffic only.
NCDOT officials are drafting a contract to construct a new road in the approximate location of the old highway. The permanent restoration will be a progressive design build project that is now being advertised, with an award expected in late November.
Uchiyama explained that the contract will include both design and construction, as well as an exact building timeline. Currently, an approximate estimate for construction of U.S. 64/74A is 2-3 years and includes the Broad River relocation.
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