SYLVA — An old bridge is on the way out and a new bridge is coming to create safer travel for residents and visitors to a mountain community.
A contractor for the N.C. Department of Transportation will next week begin replacing a 59-year-old two-lane bridge on Upper White Water Road over Gum Bottom Creek in Sapphire.
Crews from Apple Tuck & Associates will close the road and establish a safe construction zone on Monday, June 10, and have 120 days to re-open the road.
The new bridge will provide drivers with a structure with enhanced safety benefits over the previous bridge. The standards for new bridges will allow heavier and wider vehicles to safely cross.
The remote location provides one primary detour route for motorists: Travel on White Water Road north to U.S. 64, drive east on U.S. 64, head south on N.C. 281 to return to White Water Road.