Folks for spokes, speak up!: Asheville seeks citizen input on becoming more bike-friendly

The city of Asheville wants your help crafting a plan to make the city more bike-friendly. The plan will be the focus of a meeting this Thursday afternoon. Below is a news release about the event from the city.

— Cecil Bothwell, staff writer

“The City of Asheville is asking area residents to offer ideas for making the city more bicycle-friendly. Nationally known experts on bicycle planning will be in Asheville this week to share information and gather public input at an open house Thursday, March 8 from 4-7 p.m. in the City of Asheville Public Works Building.

The city has hired consultants from Toole Design Group and Livable Streets, Inc. to prepare Asheville’s first comprehensive bicycle plan. The plan, which is partially funded by the North Carolina DOT, will provide recommendations for short-term and long-term improvements for bicycle transportation. Strategies might include completing key links in the Asheville greenway system, and connecting that system to on-road improvements such as bike lanes or paved shoulders.

‘We want to make it easier for bicyclists and motorists to safely share the road,’ said Dan Baechtold, a transportation planner with the French Broad River MPO, who is assisting the city on this project. ‘This plan will help identify priorities for making investments in bicycle transportation.’

The city is working closely with the North Carolina DOT because many of the major roads in the area are controlled by the state, and much of the funding for road and bicycle improvements flows through state government. Several years ago the NCDOT initiated a new funding source to complete bicycle plans in North Carolina cities and towns.

At Thursday’s open house, bicyclists of all skill levels, motorists, and any other interested citizens are encouraged to come share their experiences, identify locations that need improvement, and offer great ideas for making Asheville a bicycle-friendly community. For more information, contact Dan Baechtold at (828) 259-5457.”

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

About Cecil Bothwell
A writer for Mountain Xpress since three years before there WAS an MX--back in the days of GreenLine. Former managing editor of the paper, founding editor of the Warren Wilson College environmental journal, Heartstone, member of the national editorial board of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, publisher of Brave Ulysses Books, radio host of "Blows Against the Empire" on WPVM-LP 103.5 FM, co-author of the best selling guide Finding your way in Asheville. Lives with three cats, macs and cacti. His other car is a canoe. Paints, plays music and for the past five years has been researching and soon to publish a critical biography--Billy Graham: Prince of War:

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

3 thoughts on “Folks for spokes, speak up!: Asheville seeks citizen input on becoming more bike-friendly

  1. Louis Lange

    How about a bike lane from downtown Asheville to West Asheville? How about police that watch out for pedestrians and their rights instead of considering pedestrians as obstacles and nuisances?How about people using their turn signals?How about tickets to people who drive while using their cellphones? How about enforcement of ‘pedestrians have the right of way’? How about the ‘cars must stop when a pedestrian is in the crosswalk’law? How about actually looking where you are turning? Bike lanes aren’t going to do anything in a culture that is late for work,late to pick up their kids from school and too distracted to realize that some people actually like to walk/bike to the store.

  2. cheryljay

    How about a way from East Asheville, Haw Creek to downtown. I would gladly ride my bike there. People here are extremely hostile to bikers on the road with cars. How about a bike lane?

    Can we put our bikes on the bus and ride to a destination, get off and ride the rest of the way?

    It would be nice if you had a bike trail that ran parellel to the main roads,but that did not put you in the road with cars. People here drive recklessly, run over animals and are impatient with humans.

  3. you already can put your bike on Asheville buses, in fact they are pretty ahead of the game on that.

    bike lanes which go somewhere people need to go, not so much.

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.