Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
The Franklin Press has an interesting piece about big trucks on little roads:
Macon County Commissioners voted Monday to send a letter to the NCDOT, state legislators and all municipalities affected, requesting that larger 18-wheel trucks be prohibited from driving on a section of winding, curvy roads along U.S. Highway 64.
A mapping schedule recently released by the North Carolina Department of Transportation revealed that trucks with 53-foot long trailers would now be allowed on a bigger network of roads, including U.S. 64 east from Murphy to Henderson County.
This route features the narrow, treacherous stretch from Franklin to Highlands that travels though the Cullasaja George.
The highway department previously allowed trucks with up to 48-foot-long trailers, but not 53-foot trailers.
Commissioner Brian McClellan said of the DOT plan to open U.S. 64 to trucks with 53-foot trailers, “They obviously don’t know what an actual curvy, mountain road is.”
However, the final decision on the use of all the roads in the new truck-mapping schedule has not been made, particularly as it pertains to two-lane mountainous roads in Western North Carolina. The roads can still be reviewed for safety by the DOT with input from Highway Patrol, meaning there is still a chance to act.
“So we have an opportunity if we take advantage of it now, to voice our concerns,” McClellan said.
He commented that they need to let the DOT know that it is inappropriate to be sending trucks with 53-foot trailers up and down the Gorge road.
Citing a March 4 article from the Asheville Citizen Times that details how some truckers say the new routes will help the flow of commerce, McClellan quipped, “Commerce doesn’t do you much good if you’re lying down at the bottom of the gorge.”
In December 2007, the driver of an 18-wheeler truck carrying bottled water drove off the road and went down into the Cullasaja George, although fortunately he walked away from the wreck unharmed.
There could be a reality series out of this:
"Gorge Truckers: How I Wet Myself at Dry Falls."
There is another article in The Macon County News, too.
http://www.maconnews.com
Thunder, uh, i didn’t go anywhere. but glad to see you too! thanks for the comment.
Glad to see you back!
I’ve spent most of my life in Macon County, and cannot tell you how many times I’ve listened to the scanner to the Sheriff’s Dept and the Cullasaja and Highlands VFD’s called out to direct traffic around Buck Creek Rd for two or three hours while a semi is being pried from the rock cliff. A good driver can make the squeeze…those are getting rarer and rarer.
There is a sign at the bottom of the hill directing trucks to take an alternate route.