Joe Biden’s failed Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, said it would take “years” to fix highway I-40 that was wiped out by Hurricane Helene. But Trump’s administration, which has only been in office for two months, has already made it easier to fix!
After Hurricane Helene roared through the south east and wiped out I-40 last September, Buttigieg insisted it would take moths, but probably years to get the road repaired and ready for traffic.
According to WCNC-TV:
Buttigieg was joined by Gov. Roy Cooper and NCDOT Transport Secretary Joey Hopkins for a tour of I-40 in western North Carolina near the Tennessee state line. A section of eastbound I-40 fell into the Pigeon River during Helene’s torrential rain. Meanwhile, crews are working on a temporary solution to stabilize the westbound lanes so traffic can flow to and from Asheville. A separate section of I-40 in east Tennessee also collapsed during the storm, causing officials to close 40 miles of the road from exit 432 in Tennessee to exit 20 in North Carolina.
Flash forward to February when Sean Duffy was sworn in by Donald Trump as the president’s new Transportation Secretary, and guess what? The road is already open.
🚨#BREAKING: The I-40 highway in #WNC which crumbled into the river during Hurricane Helene and has been closed for 5 months…
…has officially reopened!
DOT Secretary Sean Duffy allowed rock to be pulled from the river to rebuild 3X faster and cheaper. pic.twitter.com/sGm9PIwgc2
— Matt Van Swol (@matt_vanswol) March 1, 2025
The Tennessee Department of Transportation is now reporting that the highway is now open at reduced speeds. But at least traffic is now allowed as work crews continue to shore up the section that was washed into the Pigeon River Gorge during the storms.
Duffy helped speed the construction by giving the construction companies trying to rehabilitate the roadway permission to use locally sourced materials.
As CNN notes:
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy visited the storm ravaged region for the first time in February where he emphasized the Trump administration’s intent to “build infrastructure faster, better, and more affordably.”
During his visit, Duffy announced a partnership between the US Department of Transportation and the US Forest Service to grant a “Special Use” permit allowing NCDOT to use construction materials from nearby locations — reducing costs, saving time, and lowering environmental impact by cutting transportation distances.
But, why was such a commonsense policy not already in place?
It took the Trump administration to do this. Biden had five months. And failed.
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