Thanksgiving travelers will not be delayed by construction on Tennessee roads during this holiday. TDOT will halt all lane closure activity on interstates and state highways in anticipation of higher traffic volumes across the state. All construction-related lane closures will be stopped beginning at noon on Wednesday, November 22, through 6:30 a.m. on Monday, November 27.

“Thanksgiving is typically the most traveled holiday of the year,” said Deputy Governor & TDOT Commissioner Butch Eley. “Halting road work during this time will provide maximum capacity on our highways and help alleviate congestion, especially during the predicted peak travel days of Wednesday and Sunday. TDOT’s regional HELP Trucks will also be working throughout the holiday weekend to assist with incidents that may occur along the interstates. Watch out for them – move over, slow down. It’s the law.”

While all lane closure activity will be stopped, workers may be on-site in some construction zones. Long-term lane closures will also remain in place on some construction projects for motorists’ safety. Motorists are reminded to drive safely and obey the posted speeds, especially in work zones. Drivers convicted of speeding in work zones where workers are present face a fine of up to $500, plus court fees and possibly increased insurance premiums. 

AAA predicts in Tennessee, 1.2 million will take a road trip; an increase of 28,000 people from last year’s holiday. With higher traffic volumes comes greater potential for crashes. Traffic fatalities https://www.tn.gov/safety/stats/dashboards/trafficfatality.html are up 1.2% from this time last year.

Brush and Wildfires are burning across East Tennessee.

As of Friday at 12:30 p.m., the largest is in Scott County on Smokey Creek Road. This fire is 60% contained and affecting almost 2,700 acres.

A brush fire in Union County destroys one building near Satterfield Road.

Rural Metro called to the scene yesterday (Thursday) to assist Union County in battling that blaze.

The Cherokee National Forest initiates Forest Wide Fire Restrictions prohibiting building, maintaining, attending or using a fire or campfire outside of developed recreation areas.

There are three active fires in the forest, the Tweed Fire in Cocke County which is 60% contained affecting over 500 acres and the Buck Bald fire in Polk County is also 60 percent contained and affecting almost 600 acres. These fires are being investigated as possible arson.

The Bullet fire in Monroe County near Etowah remains at 103 acres and 20 percent contained. The cause of this fire remains under investigation.

Dollywood is open after the Pigeon Forge Fire Department and the Tennessee Department of Forestry continue to battle a wildfire that sparked near the park closing it briefly yesterday (Thursday) afternoon.

Officials say the fire is burning in a heavily-wooded area near Veterans Boulevard and say structures were threatened by the blaze but that bulldozers established a perimeter around the fire protecting those structures. The theme park is about a 10-minute drive from the site of the fire.

The National Weather Service says drought conditions have worsened for all of East Tennessee.

The Exceptional Drought category, which is the highest intensity, has expanded into a most of East Tennessee which includes parts of Knox, Anderson, Roane, Loudon, McMinn and Monroe Counties.

NWS says the last time East Tennessee was in this category was in late September 2016 and the last time for Knox County was November 22, 2016, right before the Gatlinburg Wildfires.

From September 1st of this year through November 15th, McGee Tyson Airport recorded just over one inch of rain.

MEDIC is still falling behind the Kentucky Blood Center in the 38th Orange and Blue Blood Drive.

Day four totals are in and Kentucky with over a 500 pint lead in the competition which runs through today (Friday) so you still have time to help push TN for another win over Kentucky.

Donors will receive a special edition t-shirt, $10 e-gift card, ticket for Fantasy of Trees, and coupons to Smoothie King, Dunkin, Texas Roadhouse, Salsarita’s, Petro’s, and Papa John’s.

Remember, someone needs blood roughly every 2 seconds and 1 in 7 people will need blood in their lifetime.

Please go to https://medicblood.org/ to schedule an appointment. Walk-ins are also welcome.