Last Updated on February 12, 2022 6:54 pm
WataugaRoads.com is excited to announce some exciting changes for 2016. Since starting the social media outlets in 2010 and the website in September 2011 it has been such a rewarding experience to watch the outlets grow, and work through the challenges along the way.
WataugaRoads.com literally broke new ground in providing real time information online for the High Country in 2011. Until then no other locally based media outlet provided real time information across the web, facebook and twitter.
Interactive Radar (https://wataugaonline.com/radar) was added in February 2013, becoming The FIRST High Country based media or weather website to do so. At the same time LIVE CAMERA FEEDS (https://wataugaonline.com/cams) of King Street/Downtown Boone, Highway 105 in Foscoe, Valle Crucis, Blowing Rock and Banner Elk were added.
In the summer of 2014, the Watauga Roads & Weather mobile apps for iPhone & iPad (http://bit.ly/WRappIOS) & Android (http://bit.ly/WRAndroidApp) were introduced, allowing for alert notifications when major travel routes are impacted due to accidents and severe weather in the area.
In June 2015 a site redesign was introduced. The new look was in order to better showcase all of the site content, add some new features and allow advertisers a better opportunity to be seen more often and in better detail.
As 2015 was coming to an end WataugaRoads.com transition to WataugaOnline.com. So what does that mean? First and foremost FASTER. For you, the viewer, it means a much faster viewing experience. With an upgrade to the web hosting the site is literally operating up to 100 times faster than before. As the site has grown to nearly a million page views a year it was hard at times for the former hosting to keep up, leading to viewing errors or the site totally crashing during high demand times.
Second, you can still use the WataugaRoads.com URL or any bookmarked items you have from it. That URL will remain in use and will automatically redirect to the new service.
WataugaRoads.com has always covered weather and motorist related news, but the site has also covered some news items that were of interest locally. By becoming WataugaOnline.com the outlet will continue to do so, while avoiding the notion that the site is just weather and roads related, however the major emphasis will continue to be on weather and travel.
I look forward to the changes and hope it will greater serve the viewers and advertisers. Thank you for the continued support and here's wishing a bright 2016 for everyone.
Sincerely,
Kenneth Reece
Founder/owner/operator
WataugaRoads.com & WataugaOnline.com
