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Construction on the 1.6-mile “missing link” of the Foothills Parkway is expected to resume this year.

Indications are that $10 million from the federal highway fund will be allocated to construct the first two bridges to be built in spanning the gap in the 14.9-mile section between Walland and Wears Valley.

When completed the 72-mile long Foothills Parkway will offer the most outstanding scenic views available to motorists of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The Parkway parallels the northwest boundary of the park on a right-of-way provided by the state.

Conceived in the late 1920s, the parkway was authorized as a scenic parkway by Congress on Feb. 22, 1944. Construction began Feb. 9, 1960, at Walland.

To date, 23.1 miles of the parkway is open to traffic and a 14.9-mile section between U.S. 321 at Walland and U.S. 321 in Wears Valley is partially complete.

At present there is no work under way on this 14.9-mile section, but redesign of the 1.6-mile section near the Blount-Sevier county line overlooking Townsend has been completed.

The sections on each side of the segment being redesigned are complete except for final surface, signing, and guardrails and cannot be opened to traffic permanently until that work is completed.

Construction was halted on the 1.6-mile segment, known as “the missing link” because of slides and failure of fill structures.

The redesign will feature a combination of cantilevered construction and bridges. A cantilevered road appears somewhat like a shelf attached to a wall.

Twice each year the unopened segments on either end of the “missing link” are opened for a weekend of slow traffic viewing from the Parkway. The Foothills Parkway Association, headed by President Bill Stevens of Gatlinburg, helps man the nearly complete approaches. One is reached from U.S. 321 at Walland and the other from U.S. 321 in Wears Valley.

This year the “open house” on the Parkway sections are scheduled for April 25-26 and Oct. 31-Nov. 1.

Thanks to continuing support from Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., the Park Service has received special funding in past years from Congress to repave the 16.6-mile section from U.S. 321 at Walland to U.S. 129 at the southern terminus at Chilhowee Lake. The only other section open to traffic is a 6.5-mile section between Cosby and the northern terminus on Interstate 40.

The section between the southern terminus and Walland winds along the top of Chilhowee Mountain via Look Rock observation tower and campground, offering fine views of the Smokies to the southeast and the Tennessee Valley with the Cumberland Mountains in the distance to the northwest.

Construction was scheduled to begin in 1989 on the 9.8-mile segment of the parkway from Wears Valley toward the Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge Spur. However, adjoining property owners were concerned about the possibility of slides and erosion, problems which plagued the construction of a previous segment. So the Park Service chose to hold off until a detailed Environmental Impact Statement could be prepared. Scientists from Oak Ridge National Laboratory were contracted to perform detailed assessments of the geological, hydrological, and biological factors which could lead to complications on the project.

From the Gatlinburg Spur (U.S. 441) the parkway is to extend 24 miles to Cosby in Cocke County, joining the 6.5-mile completed section at the northern terminus.
In the fall of 1990 a Foothills Parkway Association was established in support of completion of the parkway.

Persons interested in joining the association may write to: Foothills Parkway Association, c/o Charles Johnson, 150 Court Ave., Sevierville, Tenn. 37862.