Commercial motor vehicles traveling south on Interstate 75 from Cincinnati may want to use an alternate route to reach destinations in southeast Tennessee, Georgia or Florida due to a major rockslide that closed portions of I-75 near Jellico, Tennessee February 26.
As an alternate route, truck traffic may detour at I-71 south at Walton, Kentucky to I-265 south (Gene Snyder Freeway) in Louisville. Drivers will then take I-65 south through Nashville and pick up I-40 east to Knoxville. They will then merge onto I-75 south near Knoxville.
Currently, all commercial vehicles and wide loads heading south on I-75 must detour at Exit 29 onto U.S. 25E in Corbin. At peak travel times, U.S. 25E becomes heavily congested with truck traffic. The additional detour will help alleviate some of that congestion through downtown Middlesboro and the Cumberland Gap Tunnel.
Standard vehicles traveling south on I-75 are encouraged to detour in Jellico at Exit 160 to U.S. 25W to SR 63, and then reenter I-75 south.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation was just awarded a $2.9 million emergency contract to repair the slide and remove the rock debris. The Tennessee Department of Transportation anticipates opening both southbound lanes of I-75 in 14 days. One northbound lane is expected to open in three weeks. All lanes of I-75 are expected to be open by April 15.
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