Bridge projects across Yancey County remain in various stages of reconstruction two years after Hurricane Helene tore through the region, with crews still working to restore critical road connections that residents lost in the September 2024 storm. Division 13 Engineer Tim Anderson was interviewed at Toodies Creek Road off N.C. 197, where crews are rebuilding bridges damaged by the hurricane.
Work continues across Yancey County
Major Highway Corridors Still Under Repair
The scope of the rebuilding effort in Yancey County is enormous. According to the NCDOT public input project page, the N.C. 197 North project covers 18 miles of roadway repairs in the Toe and Nolichucky River Basin and will involve repairing or replacing seven bridges. That project is estimated to cost $345 million, with completion expected in spring 2028, according to the News & Observer.
The N.C. 197 South project is described differently depending on the source. The NCDOT public input page describes an 11-mile segment running from E. Maine Street in Burnsville to Ewart Wilson Road in Murchinson, while the News & Observer describes a larger 30-mile project with 11 bridges along the Cane River south of Burnsville, estimated to cost $300 million and expected to wrap up in fall 2027. Both figures come from official project materials, but they have not been reconciled into a single number.
Bridges Rebuilt Board by Board Near Toodies Creek
Beyond the highway corridors, individual bridge reconstructions are underway on smaller routes. Sanford Contractors began work in April on three Yancey County bridges destroyed when Helene devastated the region, according to a project update from Sanford Contractors. NCDOT awarded the three-bridge contract to the company back in January 2025, but ground was not broken until this spring.
The replacements include Bridge 62, a 50-foot single-span structure, Bridge 97, a 170-foot two-span bridge crossing the South Toe River, and Bridge 100, a 65-foot single-span structure. Per the same account, Bridges 62 and 100 are being built in phases so nearby residents retain access during construction, with temporary railcar crossings installed at both sites in the meantime. Bridge 97 has remained inaccessible since the original crossing was destroyed in the storm.
Private Bridges Still Waiting on Rebuilds
Not every damaged crossing falls under NCDOT's public road program. Yancey County resident Earmel Wheeler, whose bridge over the Cane River was destroyed by Helene floodwaters, was still waiting for information about a replacement as of February, according to WLOS. Another resident, Bobby Webb, said state and county officials had indicated his own Cane River bridge rebuild could break ground in April.
The station's report noted that North Carolina's private road and bridge program received more than 3,600 submissions statewide, with the total cost estimated at over $506 million against $175 million currently appropriated. State officials said at the time that all on-site assessments for submitted projects had been completed, with dozens finished and more underway. The application window for that assistance program was set to close February 28.
Statewide Scale of Helene's Damage
The Yancey County work is part of a much larger statewide undertaking. NCDOT expects to spend close to $5 billion repairing and rebuilding roads and bridges damaged by Helene across Western North Carolina, the News & Observer reported. The agency has already repaired 7,309 damage sites, including 585 bridges and more than 1,600 culverts, and had fully reopened all but 34 of the more than 1,500 roads that were fully or partially closed in the storm's immediate aftermath.
Four of NCDOT's seven major Helene rebuilding projects are located in rural Yancey and Mitchell counties, underscoring how heavily those communities were hit. Other nearby projects include a 19-mile stretch across 18 connected state routes with 11 bridges, a U.S. 19W corridor spanning six miles plus sections of Will Higgins Road, Huntdale Road and Murphytown Road with seven bridges of its own, and a separate 12-mile package covering U.S. 19W, Little Creek Road and Phillips Road with 10 more bridges, all detailed on the NCDOT public input page.
North Carolina's online Helene Recovery dashboard has shown more than 12,000 households awarded funding for road and bridge rebuild projects statewide, per WLOS. For residents near Toodies Creek Road and elsewhere in Yancey County, the work Anderson described continues on the ground even as the broader financial and scheduling picture keeps shifting year to year.
