I am a resident of the Beaverdam Valley here in Asheville. I drive the Merrimon Avenue corridor that the State is proposing to redo, every single day. I have seen the proposed additions to the road, namely a turning lane, curb improvements, faster moving lanes, and all I see is more traffic. I see a plan built for cars not people. I see a way to achieve a means that will end what hopes for more & safer  pedestrian/bicycle use any of us have for our busy, beloved part of town.

Certainly there are places along this identified part of the road that could greatly benefit from a designated turn lane, so make one, and keep the other, single lane for traffic in each direction while accounting for a bike lane. You have had one public meeting and offered one set of ideas but certainly there are others and most especially, there must be ideas where people are considered more integrally to the design.

This draft, what has been proposed, I’ve been down this road before. It’s also called Hendersonville Road, South Tunnel Road and Leicester Highway and I am NOT INTERESTED in you guys repeating those roads over here. Merrimon Avenue has real design flaws to be sure but this design, the maximum cars, higher speed with no account for healthy, people powered traffic (i.e. bikes, walking, skateboarding) is NOT the way to go. It’s not where I want to drive every day.

Sincerely,

Amy Jones