Please reconsider your poor plans on widening Merrimon Avenue and turning it into a Hendersonville Rd or Tunnel Rd clone. The last thing we need in this town are more 4 and 5 lane roads with zero bicycle infrastructure. The list is pretty long on all the reasons that this is a poorly thought out project, but I’ll give you a few.

• It is an INCOMPLETE STREET design, NCDOT is supposed to design complete streets that take into account more than automobiles flying through neighborhoods at 40+ mph.
• The “shared bike lane” is a dangerous joke. Please give us a real bike lane in future designs of at least 4 feet in width and NOT shared.
• It will mean long term closures of businesses in North Asheville, some may have to close permanently.
• To the best of my knowledge no public or city gov’t input was sought.
• This design will decrease pedestrian and cyclist safety.
• Studies show that widening streets only increases congestion.
• Climate change is a present and clear threat. We need to be making it easier for folks to get out of their cars and using multimodal transit that has a lower impact on the environment.

Regards,

Reid Rhodes