"Worst" section of mountainous interstate in WNC

[cowboy_wilhelm]

What do you consider the "worst" section of mountainous Interstate in Western North Carolina? (We'll leave out Asheville and consider that urban.) Whether it be condition, design, traffic, wrecks, lack of safety features, grade, curves, etc. Share your opinion!

[suburban george3]

I voted for Old Fort Mountain. The grade up or down is terrible, I have seen trucks get in all sort of predicaments and the cars just whiz around everywhere. This stretch seems to get the bulk of the traffic from the Piedmont of NC and the volume seems a bit heavier here than the other areas listed.

[cowboy_wilhelm]

I voted for Old Fort Mountain. The grade up or down is terrible, I have seen trucks get in all sort of predicaments and the cars just whiz around everywhere. This stretch seems to get the bulk of the traffic from the Piedmont of NC and the volume seems a bit heavier here than the other areas listed.

[orulz]

Pigeon River Gorge, no question. There are few severe grades, and the highway is scenic and the engineering is impressive, but:

- There is no left shoulder. Try passing a truck. Worse yet, try passing a truck in the rain, or fog, or at night. *shudder*

- Landslides and other natural disasters shut the stretch down every few years

- As soon as the weather goes south - fog, rain, or (lord forbid) snow - you can bet that there will be a tractor-trailer accident.

This is the curviest, narrowest, most dangerous rural mainline interstate that I've ever driven on, though some downtown sections in some cities can be worse. And the Gorge goes on like that for upwards of 30 miles.

[PlazaMidwoodGuy]

I voted for I-26 in Polk and Henderson Counties, although I actually don't think the Green River Gorge section is so bad. The awful part, to me, is from the gorge westward into the Asheville area. That whole section through Henderson County is congested, covered in potholes and littered with billboards. Ugh. I was surprised to see that I-40 is leading the pack with the negative votes. I think heading up the Blue Ridge Front from Old Fort to Ridgecrest is pretty nice. Then again, I'm so accustomed to Hwy. 421 up the mountain from Wilkesboro to Deep Gap and 321 from Lenoir to Blowing Rock that I-40 in McDowell County seems like a darned good road to me. It's all relative, I suppose.

[Tennesseestorm]

I said "Sams Gap", because that was the most recent area of WNC mountainous interstate I had been on in awhile. I think it is much better now that it is complete. I remember when the TN side was completed, but the NC side was not.... I think that 2-lane was very bad. I have not been on it since it has been opened to the 4-lane, so I really have no idea. Perhaps I should not have even voted.....

If I remember correctly, I-40, when crossing into NC out of TN was very curvy and seemed treacherous, but its been 10 years since I have been through there.

[flith]

What do you consider the "worst" section of mountainous Interstate in Western North Carolina? (We'll leave out Asheville and consider that urban.) Whether it be condition, design, traffic, wrecks, lack of safety features, grade, curves, etc. Share your opinion!

[DigitalSky]

Interstate + Rugged Terrain = Bad

[davidals]

Pigeon River Gorge, no question. There are few severe grades, and the highway is scenic and the engineering is impressive, but:

- There is no left shoulder. Try passing a truck. Worse yet, try passing a truck in the rain, or fog, or at night. *shudder*

- Landslides and other natural disasters shut the stretch down every few years

- As soon as the weather goes south - fog, rain, or (lord forbid) snow - you can bet that there will be a tractor-trailer accident.

This is the curviest, narrowest, most dangerous rural mainline interstate that I've ever driven on, though some downtown sections in some cities can be worse. And the Gorge goes on like that for upwards of 30 miles.