It's coming on Christmas. They're cutting down trees. And Interstate 40 is still closed at the Tennessee border, because of an Oct. 25 rock slide.

NCDOT is using dynamite and dump trucks to remove tens of thousands of tons of boulders, to repair the roadway - and (hopefully) to stabilize the hillside so this won't happen again. I-40 won't reopen until spring.

If your holiday plans include a drive through the Smokies, you'll want to take care in choosing your route. (And if you've found a good one, please let me know by e-mail or in a blog comment below.)

NCDOT is sticking with its suggestion that drivers stick with interstate highways: ... [MORE]

Russell Barrett reports that there's more than one way to get around the rock slide that closed Interstate 40 a month ago just east of the Tennessee border. (See today's story, with a map of NCDOT's recommended detour.)

How you get there depends on where you ask for directions. Barrett found that some online mapping services will lead you into trouble - but some give good guidance.

Here's what he found when he consulted four of them. (I've added links to the specific maps and directions.)

After reading of the continued problems with I-40 in the mountains this morning, I checked four online mapping programs to see if they were aware of the situation. I used Lake Junaluska as the starting point and Knoxville TN as the finish.

The results: they batted .500.

Yahoo and Google maps both routed around I-40. ... [MORE]