Press release from the City of Asheville:
Imagine a renewed Haywood Street downtown. Improvements to this major corridor are coming!
As part of the bond projects approved by voters in 2016, the City of Asheville is working on pre-construction planning and design for the Haywood Street Streetscape. The project will include sidewalk rehabilitation, street resurfacing, stormwater improvements, and new amenities such as seating, public art, trees etc. MSD will do a sewer improvement project at the same time, in coordination with the City’s streetscape project.
This transportation bond project will run along Haywood Street from Vanderbilt Place to Patton Avenue. A key component is the replacement of the damaged blue stone in the sidewalk on much of this corridor.
Design and engineering will take place this winter, with project construction planned to begin in the spring of 2019 and continue for 9 to 12 months.
Community input sessions
As part of the planning process, the City of Asheville is holding open houses to share information and get feedback on community priorities and preferences for various aspects of the project — within the $815,000 budget, of course.
Two meetings will be held Dec. 10 in Lord Auditorium, Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood St.: one at 9 a.m. and another at 5 p.m. City staff will provide project updates, including early concepts on street/sidewalk changes. Staff will also gather input from the community that will help inform the design of this project.
In January, the City will launch an online survey to get more community input.
Where to find more information
There will be unavoidable impacts and disruptions during this project. City staff will, however, do everything we can to mitigate negative impacts, and communicate every step of the way.
You can find more information online. The City has set up a Haywood Street Streetscape webpage informational webpage. This page will be updated as the project progresses.
Find more about the City’s bond and capital improvement projects by visiting the City’s Capital Projects dashboard. This reporting tool details which projects are scheduled, how much is budgeted for them, how much has been spend and what phase the various projects are in (planning, design, construction, completed). Currently $7.9 million has been spent to date on bond projects and there is an additional $6.6 million dollars under contract. If you have questions related to any of these projects you can contact the staff member listed in the project description area on the Capital Projects dashboard.
For more information about the Haywood Street Streetscape project, contact Capital Projects Program Manager Dustin Clemens at DClemens@ashevillenc.gov or 828-232-4580, or Downtown Development Specialist Dana Frankel at DFrankel@ashevillenc.gov or 828-251-4051.
Find a copy of this press release on Asheville City Source.
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