ROAN MOUNTAIN â With the Rhododendron Festival just days away, both lanes of the highway leading to the Cloudland Gardens are open, but the plants in the garden arenât quite ready to bloom. A work crew did its part on Tuesday morning, finishing the patching job on the highway from Carvers Gap to the Cloudland Gardens. The crew finished up by lunchtime, collected the traffic warning signs and departed. Long strips of still-hot asphalt lined a long section of the eastern side of the road. Traffic was heavy on the road during the morning, and flagman had to be deployed to alternate traffic on the single open lane. During the afternoon, traffic was able to negotiate both lanes along the entire road.