Asheville on Bikes & Connect Buncombe host a city council candidate forum focused on the issues of transportation on Thursday, Feb. 27th at Wedge at Foundation‘s Cloud Room from 6:00pm – 8:30pm.

The event provides council candidates the opportunity to discuss their positions on transportation and how they intend to impact the city’s infrastructure.

EVENT INFORMATION

Get There AVL
Thursday, Feb. 27th, 6:00pm – 8:30 pm
Wedge at Foundation’s Cloud Room

Asheville on Bikes provides a bicycle corral.

Our candidate forums are fun and well attended. We will be inside this year, but, in years past, we’ve met outside and the scene looked like this:

We look forward to seeing you on Thursday, February 27th!

Further reading:

• Our Suggested Policy Positions 2020.
• Candidate Questionnaire Responses 2020.

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Asheville on Bikes, Western North Carolina Alliance, Asheville Design Center, and Blue Ridge Bicycle Club host a discussion of Asheville’s transportation issues.

Get There AVL returns to host a candidates’ forum focused on the issues of transportation. Join us Wednesday, Sept. 25th at Clingman Cafe from 6:30pm – 8:30pm.

The event provides mayoral and council candidates the opportunity to discuss their positions on transportation and how they intend to impact the city’s infrastructure.

“Asheville hosts several plans designed to enhance how citizens move about their city. The next generation of political leaders face the challenge of implementation and consolidation of city plans. The people of Asheville see the value of moving our city forward. They’re looking for candidates who can champion the implementation,” says Mike Sule, creator of  Get There AVL and Director of Asheville on Bikes.

Get There AVL provides each candidate a chance to address the challenges of Asheville’s transportation infrastructure. The format promises to be both dynamic and informative. “We’ve organized the event so that participants will have a chance to meet candidates before and after the formal question and answer period. It’s important that candidates have a chance to hear the varying perspectives around transportation,” says, Julie Mayfiled, Co-Director of Western North Carolina Alliance.

Get There AVL is co-hosted by Asheville on Bikes, Western North Carolina Alliance, Asheville Design Center, & The Blue Ridge Bicycle Club.

EVENT INFORMATION
Get There AVL
Wednesday, Sept. 25th, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Clingman Café, 242 Clingman Ave.
The event will be held in the parking lot of Clingman Café. Asheville on Bikes provides a bicycle corral. The restaurant will remain open throughout the event to serve beer, wine and snacks.

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The Senate version of H817 will eliminate state funding for bike and ped projects not under construction by June 30, 2013. We have a small window of time while the bill is reconciled with the House bill to let our representatives know that this issue is important to our State.

1) Please take a moment to send a personalized email to you representatives (Click here to find your representative.). Take a moment to let them know why safe biking and walking alternatives are important to you, your children, your business, your property values.

2) Call Speaker Tillis’ office at 919-733-3451, and ask him to keep bike/ped funding in the transportation bill. Let him know who you are–business person, private developer, job creator, young professional, etc.

Please make your call or email personal but here are some points that may resonate:

• Greenways and trails are the number one amenity that people look for when choosing a new neighborhood.
• Greenways and trails are the number one amenity requested in Parks and Recreation surveys throughout North Carolina.
• Developers are including trails within their neighborhoods and locating near trail networks to increase their property values.
• Property values are higher the closer your home is to a trail or park.
• A robust trail network can help kids get to school without riding the bus or being driven by parents.
• Childhood obesity and type two diabetes in children has skyrocketed. Walking or riding to school can help children get the exercise they need. In 1969, 50 percent walked to school; by 2004 the figure was down to 14 percent.
• Access to transportation alternatives both transit and bicycle and pedestrian facilities have been proven to lower body weight. One estimate of the country’s annual medical bill for physical inactivity: $117 billion!

Greenways, trails, and sidewalks aren’t a luxury–they are a key investment in North Carolina’s future. The economic, health, and environmental benefits of biking and walking aren’t in dispute. Citizens overwhelmingly prefer neighborhoods and cities that support multimodal transportation. Let’s remind the General Assembly that their constituents are paying attention–and that bike/ped funding is too important to cut.

The post NC wants to eliminate bike & pedestrian funding! appeared first on Asheville On Bikes.

Show your support for cyclists and pedestrians in Buncombe County! Cut and paste the following and send it to Anthony Tata, Secretary of Transportation (ajtata@ncdot.gov), Michael Wray, NCDOT Project Development and Environmental Analysis Unit (mgwray@ncdot.gov), and AoB (ashevilleonbikes@gmail.com) before this Wednesday, May 8.

If you’d like to step away from the computer screen for a moment, you can also have your say by calling Michael Wray at (919) 707-6050.

Dear Mr. Tata and Mr. Wray:

NCDOT’s proposed changes to the I-26 / Brevard Road (191) interchange in Buncombe County stand in clear violation of NCDOT’s own Complete Streets Guidelines and Healthy Transportation Policy, and disregard both the NCDOT/MPO-funded Buncombe County Greenways and Trails Master Plan and the NCDOT-funded City of Asheville Bicycle Plan. I urge you to bring this project into compliance with these guidelines, for the benefit of all road users.

This project currently does not accommodate people of all ages and abilities, including people too young to drive, people who cannot drive, and people who choose not to drive–all groups expressly mentioned in NCDOT’s Complete Streets Guidelines. The pedestrian and bicycle facilities included on this project are minimal or inconsistent in how they were presented at the recent public comment session, and NCDOT’s handouts failed to mention any mode of transportation beyond the vehicular. In failing to accommodate access for all users, the design elements shown at the workshop do not comply with the “Purpose of the Project” statement, which acknowledges that “NC 191 (Brevard Road) connects residential, workplace, shopping, recreational, and visitor destinations in South Asheville.” With Asheville’s designation as a Bicycle Friendly Community, the enormous economic benefit of bicycle infrastructure, and multimodal transportation on the rise nationwide, surely NCDOT doesn’t believe that these connections occur only by car and truck?

When our own citizens are left out of project considerations, and when state and local guidelines are cast aside, we all lose. I ask you to ensure that this major project complies with the NCDOT Complete Streets Guidelines, the NCDOT Healthy Transportation Policy, Buncombe County’s Greenways Master Plan, and the City of Asheville’s Bicycle Plan. The changes you make will have a lasting impact on the people who live, work, and travel through Buncombe County, and I urge you to remember travelers in all modes of transportation as you complete this project.

Thank you,
Concerned Citizen and Cyclist

Lack of adherence to NCDOT’s Complete Streets Policy and Guidelines: NCDOT’s Complete Streets policy (2009) states a few things that are not adequately addressed in this project:

• NCDOT’s Complete Streets Guidelines state (p. 13): “This complete streets approach aligns with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) 2010 policy statement for complete streets, which states that ‘Transportation programs and facilities should accommodate people of all ages and abilities, including people too young to drive, people who cannot drive, and people who choose not to drive.’ The policy also states that “The establishment of well-connected walking and bicycling networks is an important component for livable communities, and their design should be a part of Federal aid project developments.”

• We do not believe that Complete Streets, as defined above and in NCDOT’s Complete Streets materials, means building the absolute minimum accommodations necessary, which is what has been done with this project. This project does not accommodate people of all ages and abilities, including people too young to drive, people who cannot drive and people who choose not to drive. The pedestrian and bicycle facilities included on this project are minimal or inconsistent in how they were presented at the workshop.

• The handouts distributed at the workshop only reference vehicular Level of Service, with nothing mentioned about level or quality of service for other modes and how NCDOT considered this project in the context of Complete Streets and its own associated policies.

• In failing to accommodate access for all users, the design elements shown at the workshop do not appear to comply with the “Purpose of the Project” statement acknowledging that “NC 191 (Brevard Road) connects residential, workplace, shopping, recreational, and visitor destinations in South Asheville.” Is NCDOT only considering that these connections are only to occur by car and truck?

Inconsistency between I-26/NC 191 project and the NCDOT-funded City of Asheville Bicycle Plan (2008): The City’s bicycle plan was funded by a planning grant from NCDOT. Part of NCDOT’s pitch in awarding such grants is that cities will be in a position to have the recommendations of these plans incorporated into NCDOT project design.

• The bicycle plan notes the conditions for shared lanes (p.32 of the City’s Bicycle Plan) but NCDOT did not follow this in its proposed design, which included a 14-foot shared outside lane: “Shared Roadways: Shared roadways are streets and roads where bicyclists can be served by sharing the travel lanes with motor vehicles. Usually, these are streets with low traffic volumes and/or low speeds, which do not need special bicycle accommodations in order to be bicycle-friendly.” This does not reflect the conditions on NC 191-Brevard Road.

• Page 54 of the City’s Bicycle Plan illustrates route recommendations with Brevard Road showing a need for Bicycle Lanes. A bridge built over an interchange is likely to have a 50-75-year life span. This decision will nullify the publicly-vetted recommendations of the City’s Bicycle Plan for that timeframe. Page 60 indicates this bicycle lane should be accommodated through roadway construction and a lane diet, neither of which was on display in the drawings provided at the workshop.

• Page 61: “Action 1.1: Provide Bicycle Facilities on Designated Streets…where bike lanes are recommended…” includes Brevard Road. Brevard Road is not listed with the set of Shared Roadways.

Inconsistency between I-26/NC 191 project and NCDOT/MPO-funded Buncombe County Greenways and Trails Master Plan (2012): The plan was adopted in September 2012 showing a multi-use pathway along the east side of NC 191, following the DOT right-of-way to a culvert south of the interchange. County staff met with NCDOT Division 13 staff in summer 2012, prior to adoption of the plan and when it was known that NCDOT is looking at the I-26/NC 191 interchange.

• During the workshop, only reasons to not accommodating the greenway plan along right-of-way were given, with representatives acting as if it couldn’t happen. It sounded as if a “final design decision” had been made to not accommodate the greenway despite statements in the meeting handouts to the contrary.
• This violates the tenets of NCDOT’s Complete Streets and Health-Transportation policies in several ways.

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