Route US 70 / US 74 Length 750 feet (230 m) Number of lanes 2 | Opened 1929 No. of lanes 2 | |
Location | ||
Beaucatcher Tunnel carries U.S. Route 70 (US 70) and US 74 through Beaucatcher Mountain in Asheville, North Carolina. Work on the 750-foot (230 m) tunnel was started in 1927 and completed in 1929. The tunnel has two lanes and sidewalks separated from the traffic lanes by concrete barriers. It was renovated in 2014 with new stone portals.
For the construction of Interstate 240 on a parallel alignment two new tunnels were considered for the interstate route. In 1967 the North Carolina State Highway Commission endorsed an open cut through the mountain, which was projected to save $11.4 million over tunnel construction.
References
Beaucatcher Tunnel Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA