This Thursday, March 28, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) hosts public comment regarding the Amboy & Meadow Roads widening project, STIP Number U-4739. The public meeting is hosted at Double Tree by Hilton Asheville – Biltmore (115 Hendersonville Rd) from 4PM to 7PM.

The Amboy & Meadow Road project will have a large impact on the future of Asheville’s active transportation network. AoB encourages you to participate in the drop-in sessions and follow the project closely.

A few notable items affected by this project:

• Asheville and West Asheville’s connections (car/bike/ped) to Carrier Park and the Hominy Creek Greenway;
• The future Karen Cragnolin park design and other RiverLink work;
• The safety of bicyclists, pedestrians, and low speed vehicle users moving along or near Amboy Road and Meadow Road;
• The design of the on-bridge and intersection bicycle and pedestrian treatments where Amboy joins Lyman/Meadow, connecting the RADTIP greenway and on-street bike lane along Lyman to French Broad River Park;
• The design and routing of the greenway section that remains the missing link below RADTIP, the connecting greenway from Amboy Rd to Biltmore Avenue in Biltmore Village.

Here are some questions to ask at the meeting:

1. How has NCDOT looked at population demographics related to income, race and disability status in the design of this project and linkages across it, especially with regard to access to the park and riverfront? What types of pedestrian and bicycling crossings will be incorporated into this project to provide safe crossing from West Asheville neighborhoods to adjacent parks? Are raised crosswalks or speed tables, curb extensions, and / or refuge islands being considered?
2. How will NCDOT incorporate a “target speed” approach as identified in the AASHTO Green Book? What is the proposed design speed for this project? How was the design speed determined? Is the design speed determined or is it still being evaluated? What is the projected posted speed limit?
3. What is the width of the vehicular travel lanes? Does the width exceed AASHTO guidance for a road of this classification?
4. Are protected bicycle facilities included to separate bicyclists from moving vehicles? How does the current plan align with current FHWA guidance? (esp page 23) Does the plan align with FHWA guidance allowing flexibility for choosing standards for bike/ped facilities, which permits NCDOT to implement designs like the ones listed here:  Designing for All Ages and Abilities (esp page 4), even without a formal adoption by NCDOT?
5. What is the width of the proposed bicycle and pedestrian facilities? Do the widths align with AASHTO guidance?
6. How has NCDOT’s Complete Street policy informed the design of this project?
7. Will traffic calming facilities be incorporated into the project to maintain safe travel speeds for people walking and biking?
8. How was pedestrian and bicyclist level of service (LOS) evaluated? What methodology was used? Is the evaluation published? (NCDOT Complete Streets Evaluation, p. 33)
9. How will the design aim to incorporate trees to provide additional buffer (real and perceived) from cars? (As well as to provide the many other benefits from urban tree canopy?)
10. How will the proposal connect to other city bike/ped infrastructure, especially where Meadow Road interacts with the proposed greenway as it approaches Biltmore Ave?  (RADTIP/Wilma Dykeman RiverWay Plan/Swannanoa Greenway, especially the section between Amboy and Biltmore Ave)?
11. How is NCDOT incorporating its Vision Zero policy into the engineering of this project?

See you on Thursday!

Print version.

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French Broad River MPO

339 New Leicester Highway

Asheville, NC  28804

Dear MPO leaders:

On behalf of our members and supporters, Asheville on Bikes and MountainTrue write in opposition to cascading Section A of the I-26 Connector Project from the statewide to the regional tier of projects. We firmly believe that negotiations between the City of Asheville and NCDOT on outstanding design questions related to the Connector Project should be completed and incorporated into the final Environmental Impact Statement before the project moves forward. We cannot support cascading Section A until this occurs.

We recognize that the City’s negotiations with NCDOT to date have produced several good outcomes including new bike/pedestrian facilities, good greenway connections, a Section A with six lanes instead of eight, and a much-improved redesign of the Amboy Road interchange (though no one has yet seen revised maps that reflect these design improvements). However, there has not yet been success in determining the number of lanes going across the river and in the design of the Patton Avenue/Bowen Bridge corridor. The City of Asheville remains committed to making this corridor a multi-modal, urban boulevard that serves as a gateway to downtown, but NCDOT is not yet committed to these outcomes.

Until negotiations with NCDOT are complete and the drawings are updated so that the City can say with confidence that the project will increase livability for the residents of Asheville, advance active transportation, and meet the City’s vision for the redevelopment of Patton Ave, we stand with the City of Asheville in opposing cascading Section A. We strongly encourage NCDOT to continue to work with the City of Asheville to reach agreement on these critical design issues.

Sincerely,

Mike Sule, Executive Director
Asheville on Bikes

Bob Wagner, Co-Director
Mountain True

To support Asheville on Bikes and Mountain True, please send emails supporting our position to these members of the MPO:

mpo@landofsky.org
cc: brownie.newman@buncombecounty.org
cc: jasmine.beach-ferrara@buncombecounty.org
cc: info@ashevilleonbikes.com

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