Blue Ridge Parkway (Cherokee End)

[TNGW1500SE]

If you ride a motorcycle this will interest you:

The US federal government decided to "Tar and Chip" the Blue Ridge Parkway. If you don't know what that is, they spray down hot tar and cover it with stone chips. (VIDEO LINK BELOW). It's rough and the stones come loose. You can't tell if they are loose or not so you always have to ride like you're riding on gravel. It wears out your tires too. I just got my first look at it yesterday. They even have signs up that read "Travel for Motorcycles and Bicycles not recommended".

We always come to Maggie Valley NC every summer to ride and the Parkway is the main attraction. I guess it's been 8 years now. When you ride it. You leave the valley that 80 degrees and hot. then climb into the cool 60's on the parkway. The views and curves are perfect!. BUT,,, No more. This will be our last year. They are working from the Asheville side going toward Cherokee. As of today, they are just south of Hwy 276.

They are killing the parkway for motorcycles and the whole area will suffer. Businesses WILL close. This WAS the ROAD TO RIDE.

They had a rally this weekend in Maggie Valley. You couldn't count the Harley's. Every hamburger joint and pizza place was full.

For the most part nobody seems to care. The locals say "there are other roads" and to a point that's true but the cool temps of the parkway and the views make it irreplaceable. I've got roads at home.

We've personally spent over 4K on a campsite this summer. Add in gas, eating out, grocery's, shopping at the local produce stands, etc. and that adds up! It wouldn't surprise me if we spend 10K in this area this year alone. And that's just me! Motorcycles bring in so much business to this area. That's over. Some may come next year, not knowing. Once they ride the tar and chip road, they'll not return.

We're going to stay and ride this summer as long as we can, staying on the last of the good pavement, watching as the infected pavement narrows our area to nothing. Then we'll be gone. I may even sell our motorhome and quit altogether or maybe Canada next year.

We have looked at buying a summer home here or buying some property to park our motorhome on. We even considered buying property and building a new campground in the area.

Leave it to the US government to screw things up! They even used my money to do it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwFNYIO9Q6U

[Lynnmor]

nickthehunter wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:

bid_time wrote:
Long term, chip seal is perfectly safe for motorcyles. Short term inconvience for effective long term maintenance method.

Here is an improved road in my area:
Video

oil is not Chip Seal. Two different things. Apples and Oranges.

Since this thread is revived, tar, oil, chip, tar & chip, chip seal and all varieties of this wording all point to the same thing. Its all the same fruit cocktail.

[CharlesinGA]

I know this thread is a couple of weeks old now, but just having stayed at Mt. Pisgah campground for a couple of days, I have to say, the chip and seal has not deterred any bicyclists or motorcyclists. Even with the fog and mist and low clouds in the area everyone was out and about. No one was having any issues that I could see. I talked to one guy in the campground who tows his Harley in a trailer behind his motorhome, he was there last year also, and said he didn't have any issues with the chip and seal. Walking on it I was amazed at how quickly the "tar" dried to the point of not being sticky. The area in front of Pisgah Inn and the campground was done in the past couple of weeks, they are working just north of there now, and close enough that they are still parking equipment in a large unused parking area just on the north side of the campground that is neither an overlook or a picnic area.

This borders on being much ado about nothing.

Charles

[Farmboy666]

I was up at the top of 276 today and went to the Pisgah Inn for lunch, what they paved 3 or 4 days ago is fine. Saw probably 25+ bikes.

[DiskDoctr]

RGar974417 wrote:
In Pa, the state has been doing that for years. It does extend the life of the roads but it is dangerous for bikers.

And it chips the daylights out of paint, throws tar and chips all over the undercarriage and on the paint. Dangerous and damaging.

Now...if they ROLLED it afterwards, as I saw ONE TIME elsewhere, not so bad. But around here they simply spray it and cover potholes, which just make chip-holders and allow the cars to be the 'rollers'

IMHO, if a road cannot survive 12 months without serious defects, the contracting company must be BILLED, FINED, and BARRED from doing business with the state until corrected.

Too much Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in this state.

[nickthehunter]

Lynnmor wrote:

bid_time wrote:
Long term, chip seal is perfectly safe for motorcyles. Short term inconvience for effective long term maintenance method.

Here is an improved road in my area:
Video

oil is not Chip Seal. Two different things. Apples and Oranges.

[Farmboy666]

I live 15 minutes from the BRP. Ride it sometimes but will say there are a lot of other roads that are better rides. Mostly tourists looking at the views instead of the road. Lots of roads around here get the same treatment ands it sucks for a while but not long term. As far a business’ going under, I doubt it.

[RGar974417]

In Pa, the state has been doing that for years. It does extend the life of the roads but it is dangerous for bikers.

[TNGW1500SE]

Lynnmor wrote:

bid_time wrote:
Long term, chip seal is perfectly safe for motorcyles. Short term inconvience for effective long term maintenance method.

Here is an improved road in my area:
Video

Wow! When that gets wet it will be slick.

[Lynnmor]

bid_time wrote:
Long term, chip seal is perfectly safe for motorcyles. Short term inconvience for effective long term maintenance method.

Here is an improved road in my area:
Video

[bid_time]

Long term, chip seal is perfectly safe for motorcyles. Short term inconvience for effective long term maintenance method.

[D_E_Bishop]

Perhaps the fact that the BRP and the Smokies are supervised by the National Park Service, and due to it's prominence as the premier Parkway of the four National Parkways and because of the large number of people visiting each year, if is fair to assume they get their fair share of tax dollars. If it were part of the Federal Highway System it would get far less monies than it does.

While I feel for your(supposed) loss, there are a lot of things that need maintenance in the Parkway area and if chip seal saves monies for other things like the Viaduct bridges, visitor services and campgrounds, then the entire nation is being served.

[dedmiston]

PLEASE KEEP THE DISCUSSION CIVIL. I HAVE DELETED SOME OF THE NASTY DISRESPECTFUL POSTS.

Disagree without being disagreeable.

[BarabooBob]

I drove what I could of the parkway in early June. They had massive rainstorms when we were there and several portions were closed due to landslides and pavement collapsing. I live in WI and putting down tar and chip is the leading method of extending the life of roads. I go to our town hall meetings and they discuss road repairs vs. costs and you can't believe what road repair costs. If you can't ride without perfect roads, don't bother coming to WI because on any given ride, I find chip repair frequently. My wife and I go on nice little 300 mile one day rides frequently so we expect all types of conditions.
Perfect roads are like perfect weather, they are both rare.

[TNGW1500SE]

Tyler0215 wrote:
.....It's not permanent.

Tell that to the motorcycle riders that get permantantly injured or killed. The road is never the same after they do this.