A 1.5-mile section of U.S. 58 between Damascus and Konnarock that was decimated by flooding and high winds from Hurricane Helene last September will officially reopen Thursday afternoon — five months ahead of schedule.
The cost of the project is expected to total about $7 million, according to a spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Transportation.
W-L Construction and Paving of Chilhowie rebuilt the road under an emergency contract.
On Sept. 27, following days of steady rain, the inland effects of the massive hurricane blew through Southwest Virginia. The town of Damascus and its surrounding communities of Taylors Valley and Green Cove had an additional 4-6 inches of rain on that Friday and sustained some of the worst damage.
The two creeks that run through the town of fewer than 800 residents soon spilled over their banks and flooded homes and businesses. Bridges, a mobile home park and an RV park were washed away, sinkholes opened up in several spots and dozens of swift-water rescues were made. Town officials said they were thankful no lives were lost. 
Right after the storm, the damage to U.S. 58 was evident soon after the turn from Virginia 91 onto the two-lane road. It gradually worsened as you ascended the mountainous road, going down to one lane and then ending abruptly with a huge chasm and a gulch filled with water where the road once had been.
The road is important for Washington County because it is a “commercial and medical corridor” to Abingdon and Southwest Virginia for people who live in Mountain City, Tennessee, and Boone, North Carolina, County Administrator Jason Berry said earlier.
The road has been closed since September, requiring motorists to take detours. It is traveled daily by about 400 vehicles.
Originally, VDOT officials said the U.S. 58 work would start in November and take about a year to complete, but the repairs were done in nearly half that time. In March, while giving a tour of the road repairs to U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Dennis Sanders, assistant environmental manager for VDOT’s Bristol District, attributed the swift completion to tremendous cooperation among agencies and local governments.
The popular Virginia Creeper Trail, a portion of which ran along 58 but was washed away in the storm, was also heavily damaged. The trail directly or indirectly provides employment for the majority of Damascus residents.
Most of the damage was to the second half of the 34-mile recreation trail, which runs from Damascus to Whitetop, near the North Carolina line. More than half of the trestles on that second portion of the trail were destroyed, and it remains closed.
The popular trail attracts 250,000 visitors each year. The first half, from Abingdon to Damascus, had minor damage and reopened a few days after the flooding.
In April, while visiting Taylors Valley to attend the dedication of a home built for a couple who lost their house to flooding, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said work was beginning on contracts for debris removal on the Creeper Trail.
“I’m really hopeful that by the end of the summer, we have got contracts let and work going on to rebuild the Creeper Trail,” he said.
In December, Congress approved $660 million for Helene-related repairs, and $200 million to $300 million of that money is expected to go toward Creeper Trail rebuilding, a U.S. Forest Service official said in March. 
The rebuilding of U.S. 58 will help with the work needed to fix the Creeper Trail because it’s needed to access parts of the trail that were hardest hit and difficult to get to.
To mark completion of the repairs to 58, VDOT is holding an invitation-only ribbon cutting Thursday, and Youngkin and other state and local officials are expected to attend.
VDOT still has three bridges destroyed by the hurricane to replace: one in Taylors Valley, where a temporary bridge was placed; one in the Konnarock area, where a temporary causeway was placed adjacent to the bridge; and one in Damascus.
The bridge in Konnarock is expected to open this summer, while bids are now being accepted to replace the bridge in Damascus, which has an alternate route.
Additional bridge and road work on a smaller scale will be completed this summer in Washington, Smyth and Grayson counties, according to VDOT.
