Updated: 11/11/2009 5:22:00 AM
A Tennessee Department of Transportation traffic study found 10,000 fewer motorists are traveling down Interstate 40 in Cocke County daily.
TDOT recently counted vehicles merging onto I-40 at the I-40/I-81 split and compared those numbers to a 2008 study.
The major decrease in traffic is due to the I-40 rockslide in North Carolina that shut down the interstate near the North Carolina and Tennessee border.
Traffic is now detoured onto I-81.
Businesses located off the I-40 exits in Cocke County have noticed a considerable drop in traffic.
"Probably the gross income is down around 85-90 percent. Truck business has stopped. We cut two hours each day and laid off two employees,"said Harold Cates, owner of the Downtown Hartford Citgo off exit 447 on I-40.
During a town hall meeting at Newport City Hall Tuesday night, TDOT officials told business owners that they are deciding if detour signs can be altered to send more non-commercial traffic Cocke County's way.
The City of Newport is now allowing businesses to place signs at the intersection of Highway 25/70 and Highway 321, which are both alternate detours.
Cocke County officials have asked both TDOT and federal representatives to encourage the North Carolina Department of Transportation to open two lanes of the incident site as soon as possible.
