Karen Chávez

kchavez@gannett.com

Just as the summer-like weather in the mountains around Asheville has started to melt the Blue Ridge Parkway out of its winter crust of snow and ice, the parkway will begin maintenance closures on Wednesday, March 16, so be prepared. Maintenance personnel will be conducting hazard tree removal and boom axe operations across the Asheville corridor beginning March 16, for two weeks. Following is the closure schedule:

Dates Location March 16 – 17, 2016 Milepost 393.6 – 408.4 (south of NC 191) March 21 – 23, 2016 Milepost 388.8 – 393.6 (Hwy 25 to NC 191) March 24 – 25, 2016 Milepost 384.7 – 388.8 (US 74 to Hwy 25) March 28 – 29, 2016 Milepost 382.8 – 384.7 (US 70 to US 74) March 30 – 31, 2016 Milepost 375.7 – 381.9 (Ox Creek Road to Folk Art Center)

During the closures, both lanes in this section of the parkway will be closed to all activity (cars, bicycles, and hikers) to ensure the safety of visitors and staff, according to a news release from the parkway. This work requires equipment and maintenance staff to remain in the travel lanes during these activities.

Affected sections will close at approximately 9 a.m. each day and reopen by 3:30 p.m. Local traffic will need to find alternate routes during these work periods. Access to the Parkway Visitor Center (at MP 384) and Folk Art Center (MP 382) will be available throughout the project.

Annually, Blue Ridge Parkway maintenance and resource management staff conducts maintenance activities designed to manage invasive vegetation growth along the Parkway. To help insure safe sight distances and a clear right-of-way, this work requires using a large tractor with a cutting head on a long arm, or boom. This tractor must remain in the travel lanes during operation to properly perform its work while cutting the banks and road shoulders.

The parkway is now open from MP 382 at the Folk Art Center to MP 423 just south of Waterrock Knob in Haywood County. For more information about road closures, visit the Parkway’s Real-Time Road map at maps.nps.gov/blri/road-closures/.