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Location DB > United States > Tennessee > Wears Valley > Missing Link
 Name
Missing Link
 Viewing Options
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 Database Info
created by Slickis on 7/24/2004 12:32 AM
last modified by Mr. Bitey on 6/17/2019 7:24 PM
 Viewability
Publically Viewable Publically Viewable
This location has been labeled by its creator as Public, and therefore can be viewed by anyone.
 Overview
 Description
Several miles of unfinished, unused 2 lane highway with many concrete bridges.
As of now, only 1.6 miles of this 16 mile stretch remain unfinished.
Runs from Wear Cove (Wears Valley) and when complete will run from there to Walland near Maryville TN.
 Basic Information
Type: Outdoors
Status: Active
Accessibility: Easy - drive it!
Recommendation: check it out if you're nearby
 Physical Information
Address
Foothills Parkway
Wears Valley, Tennessee
United States
Owner: State Of Tennessee
 Hazards
 Interesting Features
Fantastic views!
 Security Measures
 Historical Dates
Built: 1962
Closed: 0
 Required Equipment
 Recommended Equipment

 History
Originally envisioned as a 71-mile scenic route paralleling the Tennessee boundary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Foothills Parkway is the oldest unfinished highway project in Tennessee. The origins of the parkway stemmed from the federal government's decision not to build the Blue Ridge Parkway through any part of Tennessee. Disappointed by this decision, Frank Maloney, vice-president of the Great Smoky Mountains Conservation Association, conceived the idea of the Foothills Parkway as a way to spur economic growth and link recreational areas on the Tennessee side of the national park.

After years of lobbying, Congress in 1944 passed an act that enabled the parkway project to proceed. The State of Tennessee received the authority to purchase rights of way, and the federal government promised to provide funds for construction and maintenance of the parkway. The Tennessee Highway Department (later the Tennessee Department of Transportation) purchased 8,835 acres in Cocke, Sevier, and Blount Counties in the 1950s, but construction did not begin until 1960.

Due primarily to a shortage of federal funds, the construction of the Foothills Parkway proceeded very slowly. Sections of the parkway opened as early as 1965, but in 1978, nearly thirty-five years after the passage of the initial enabling act, less than one-third of the parkway had been completed. Although earth slides and soaring costs continued to plague the project, Representative James Quillen provided a strong legislative push for completion of the parkway.
The Foothills Parkway is one for the history books: a federal road project that has remained incomplete for nearly 60 years. With only 1/3 of the road complete, their is also a 16-mile section of this scenic parkway that has remained closed to traffic for nearly 35 years. This section is known as the "Missing Link" of the Foothills Parkway. Built like the Blue Ridge Parkway, the road to completion is as rocky as the terrain itself is.
Basically, the existing road today consists of four sections: the 18 mile western section between US 321 in Walland and US 129 at Lake Chilhowee, a shorter 6 mile section between US 321 in Cosby and I-40, the Spur-essentially the route of US 321/441 from the Park Boundary and along the by-pass around Gatlinburg and a 16 mile incomplete portion between US 321 in Walland and US 321 in Wears Cove that bears the name the "Missing Link". The "Missing Link" is an extremely long project with a long history. A portion of the "Missing Link" first opened to traffic in 1967 as a continuation of the Look Rock section of the Parkway. It closed only two years later in 1969 after rock slides and the Vietnam War depleted funding for the section's upkeep. This portion extended less than half the distance of the entire Missing Link. In the mid 1980's (1986, I believe), work began once again to extend the Parkway a little further. This time, the Parkway was to be built from each end with the Wears Cove section built by one contract and the Walland section by another. A project plagued with problems, the work finally halted in 1989 when the fills did not hold in steep terrain. The result is a 1.6 mile long "Missing Link" along Rocky Mountain overlooking Townsend. As the project was being managed by TDOT, the major problems that occured resulted in the Park Service removing TDOT from the process of building the road. This also led to a 10-year delay before work has again commenced. The new project for the missing link neccessitated a redesign, resulting in an expensive serious of 10 viaducts to be built over steep ravines along the mountain. Work finally progressed around 2000 to build the last two of the ten viaducts, and they are complete except for the bridge rail. It is also understood that the third viaduct will be built soon as well. Still, funding has been abyssmal for this road, so work is still not projected for completion until no sooner than 2012.

Furthermore, though this road has the potential to be a valuable asset and already is on the open sections, the road has met much resistance over the years. Then Senator Al Gore, among others, were vocal opponents of the road, much in the way they opposed the "Road to Nowhere", another similar project in Bryson City facing ultimate doom. Their rantings have not stopped the project, but have gone far to further delay the completion of the road. This road has been a pariah to both conservatives and liberals: liberals in the fact that the road cuts sharply into the side of the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains and the conservatives, because they believe this is a pork barrel project that does not justify the $300 million pricetag.

06/2019 - uncertain of completion date, but it is indeed a complete and an active parkway. No need to mention stunning views....
 Media Coverage

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 Photo Galleries
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07/23/2004
Sat, Jul 24th, 2004
posted by Slickis
31 pictures
 


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 Web Links
Link below still active, but no longer accurate.
http://www.cs.utk....nbike/fthills.html

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 Moderator Rating
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 Validation
This location's validation is current. It was last validated by Emperor Wang on 6/17/2019 10:50 PM.

 Latest Changes
  • on Jun 17 19 at 22:50, Emperor Wang validated this location
  • on Jun 17 19 at 19:24, Mr. Bitey changed the following: History, Status, Accessibility, Hazards, Interesting Features, Security Measures, Media Coverage, Future Plans, Web Links
  • on May 18 07 at 10:31, SaraBellum validated this location
  • on Jun 4 06 at 4:19, Weatherboy changed the following: Latitude, Longitude
  • on Jun 4 06 at 4:18, Weatherboy changed the following: Co-ordinate Accuracy
  • on Jun 4 06 at 4:15, Weatherboy changed the following: Latitude
  • on Jun 4 06 at 4:14, Weatherboy changed the following: Latitude, Longitude, Co-ordinate Accuracy, Media Coverage, Web Links
  • on Mar 26 06 at 21:58, Emperor Wang validated this location
  • on Feb 28 06 at 14:41, Slickis updated gallery picture P7230049.JPG
  • on Feb 28 06 at 14:41, Slickis deleted picture 164142 from gallery 07/23/2004
  •  Forum Threads about this Location
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    You must log in for this feature to work.Next year when I'm up there...maxt4113711/1/2005 3:47 PM by maxt
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