Foothills Parkway Open House

On Saturday and Sunday, May 3 & 4, a portion of the Foothills parkway was open to motorists. The 9.5-mile-long segment of the Parkway from Walland toward Wears Valley was last opened to motorists in April 1998. During that ten year period, the National Park Service and the Federal Highway Administration awarded and managed two contracts totaling $17.5 million under which three graceful, curving bridges have been completed. The bridges seem to hang suspended up to 80 feet above the ground and the NPS believes they will someday become symbols of the Foothills Parkway much as the Linn Cove Viaduct is of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The new bridges and their connecting roadways span the first 1,675 feet of the "Missing Link", a 1.6-mile-long uncompleted section of the Parkway right-of-way. When completed, the "Missing Link" will connect the segment that extends westward from its terminus with U.S. 321 in Wears Valley.

Through the support of Senator Lamar Alexander and Representative John Duncan, $17.7 was appropriated under the SAFETEA-LU (Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy of Users) for the "Missing Link" of which $15.2 million is available after Congressional reductions. The NPS and FHWA are finalizing plans to begin work in the fall of 2008 on the east of teh "Missing Link" starting with construction of a 1,200' segment which includes a reinforced fill design to cross a shallow ravine. Completion of the "Missing Link" will require a series of additional contracts, including a final contract for paving, guardrails, signs, etc., to allow the entire 16.1 miles from Walland to Wears Valley Road to be opened. Full completion of the "Missing Link" is expected to take 10 to 15 years and cost an estimated $138 million (including the funding now available).

The entire 72-mile route of the Parkway extends from Interstate 40 in Cocke County to Chilhowee Lake in Blount County. Of that 72-mile distance, two segments at the ends, totaling 22.5 miles, are completed and open to traffic. The top priority of the NPS is finishing the "Missing Link" so that another 16.1 miles can be opened from Walland to Wears Valley. Once that is complete, 33 miles will remain to be constructed. Environmental planning has been partially completed on portions of that route, but no construction has taken place.

National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Open House Brochure

During our drive, the roadway was an unfinished gravel byway and had no guardrails, center striping or signs. The speed limit was 25 mph and we were cautioned to watch for pedestrians, cyclists and horses, who normally have the road to themselves. The first two bridges had temporary chain link fences as guardrails, but the third bridge had a standard highway guardrail primarily designed to restrain vehicles.

We began waiting in line on Highway 321 in Walland, a few hundred feet from the exit ramp to the Parkway. Because I needed to get gas in my car (Greg says it's always EMPTY), I was a little concerned about driving the whole distance in bumper-to-bumper traffic. However, after we received the brochure from the volunteers, the traffic thinned and we were moving at the speed limit of 25 mph. We stopped at several pull-offs to take photos. When we neared the end of the Parkway that was open to motorists, Greg asked if we wanted to park (there was a small parking area) and walk to wherever the people were walking. I said, "Of course!" I wasn't going to wait another 10 years to get to see the sights from the bridges. We were all glad we walked the final .5 mile to the real end of this portion of the Parkway. Although it was very steep, the views were amazing, and we got to stand on "those bridges" that we always see from Townsend on the side of the mountain. Our final treat...Sonic! PHOTOS