CHIMNEY ROCK, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Nearly a year after Tropical Storm Helene tore through Western North Carolina, state transportation officials say temporary roadways and bridges have restored access to isolated communities, with permanent repairs now underway.

Division 13 Construction Engineer Nathan Moneyhan with the N.C. Department of Transportation said the storm left some areas of Rutherford and Henderson counties reachable only by foot after landslides destroyed stretches of U.S. 64, N.C. 9 and N.C. 74 near Bat Cave, Chimney Rock Village and Lake Lure.

“In the first days after the storm, we had to hike in,” Moneyhan said Tuesday during a progress update at one of the hardest-hit sections.

He said it was overwhelming to see the devastation in the Bat Cave/Chimney Rock/Lake Lure area.

“When we hiked in here for the first time, when we recognized the amount of damage that was here, we knew that it was something that was going to take some amount of time for design work and construction — longer than the community here would be able to wait to have some sort of reliable access,” Moneyham said.

So, crews carved out a one-lane gravel path in the weeks following the storm. That route has since been widened, paved and striped into a two-lane temporary road that reopened to local traffic in late spring. The state spent about $25 million on the interim roadway, which also included installing temporary railcar bridges to span washouts.

The temporary fixes have allowed residents to return home and businesses in Chimney Rock Village to reopen. Chimney Rock State Park welcomed visitors again in June.

Permanent repairs are expected to cost about $250 million and take more than two years to complete. Work will include rebuilding bridges, restoring washed-out slopes with reinforced rock and rebuilding sections of highway. The Bat Cave bridge, a key link into Chimney Rock and Bat Cave, is slated to be replaced beginning later this year.

Moneyhan said the permanent roadway will follow its original alignment but will include improvements to make it more resilient to future storms.

“Our goal is to restore full connectivity for this region and build it back stronger,” he said. “This is still a long road ahead, but we’ve reached some big milestones already.”

For now, access along U.S. 64 and surrounding roads remains restricted to local traffic and construction crews. Visitors to Chimney Rock State Park are advised to enter from the Lake Lure side.