Northbound travel lanes will carry two-way traffic around landslide area
FRANKFORT, Ky. (March 12, 2012) – The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) is constructing a “crossover lane” on Interstate 75 to help southbound traffic get around the area of an embankment failure that occurred Friday near the Kentucky border.The embankment failure forced closure of both southbound lanes of I-75 near Jellico, Tenn.
When the crossover is complete, one lane of southbound I-75 traffic will be shifted to one northbound lane. There will be two lanes for northbound traffic, and one lane for southbound traffic. This temporary traffic pattern will remain in place until repairs to the slide area can be completed, according to a TDOT announcement today.
The crossover lane is expected to be in place by Friday, March 16. It is not yet known how long it will take to make repairs and reopen I-75 South to normal traffic.
Until the crossover lane is complete, two detour routes remain in place, beginning at Exit 160 at Jellico:
- Regular traffic: Turn left to follow US 25W to LaFollette, Tenn., then back to I-75 South at Exit 134 in Caryville, Tenn.
- Wide loads: Turn right to follow SR 297 West to SR 63, then back to I-75 South at Exit 141.
For travel and TDOT construction information, please visit the TDOT SmartWay web site at www.tn.gov/tdot/tdotsmartway, or call 511 from any land-line or cellular phone. You can also receive traffic alerts via TDOT’s multiple Twitter feeds, including statewide traffic tweets. Smart phone users can use the TDOT SmartWay Mobile website at http://m.tdot.tn.gov/SmartWay/ to access TDOT’s SmartWay cameras and information on construction related lane closures and incidents on interstates and state routes.
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