A slightly bigger chunk of the Blue Ridge Parkway is open to vehicular traffic today, aka Polar Vortex Day, in Asheville. The parkway is open to driving from Milepost 382 at the Folk Art Center just north of the U.S. 70 entrance, to Milepost 393.6 at N.C. 191/Brevard Road. The Visitor Center and Folk Art Center are open.
The rest of the parkway in North Carolina, which contains the most mountains section of the 469-mile roadway, is closed for snow and icy conditions.
It’s a good time to think about what the parkway means to our community, economically, aesthetically, recreationally, all of those things. The parkway has certainly been through its share of turmoil over the past year, with the sequester cuts, the government shutdown and road failures and closures. Check out the upcoming presentation on the parkway this Thursday:
Environment North Carolina Research and Policy Center will release a new analysis, “Death by a Thousand Cuts,” exposing the impacts of funding cuts to the Blue Ridge Parkway– and to North Carolinians’ enjoyment of “America’s Favorite Drive.”
The analysis comes as President Obama readies his proposed budget for fiscal year 2015 and final Congressional budget negotiations get underway.
WHEN: 10 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 9
WHO: Liz
Article source: http://blogs2.citizen-times.com/outdoors/2014/01/07/budget-cuts-threatening-blue-ridge-parkway-theme-of-thursday-talk/ If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com
