Press release from City of Asheville
Over the last several weeks, the City of Asheville has been talking with business owners, property owners, and the broader public about a proposal to add bicycle lanes to Biltmore Avenue between Patton and Hilliard Avenues, in conjunction with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT)’s upcoming repaving and re-striping project.
Based on community and stakeholder input, the City has decided to take a phased approach to improving this section of Biltmore Avenue. In direct response to business concerns, the City will first work with the NCDOT to address immediate functional and operational issues related to loading and vehicle speeds.
Bike lanes will not be added at this time, rather the City will aim to enhance delivery access in the corridor by adding new loading zones and expanding existing ones. Additionally, the City will work with NCDOT during this time to evaluate the potential for lowering the speed limit on Biltmore between Aston and Hilliard to encourage slower vehicle speeds.
Following NCDOT’s repaving project, the City will work with corridor stakeholders to evaluate the effectiveness of the added loading spaces and will implement changes as necessary. Additional public engagement will occur on the proposal to add bicycle facilities to the corridor and additional options will be developed for consideration.
The City is committed to implementing the plans, policies and goals developed by the community that call for improvements to multimodal transportation and the creation of a connected and safe bicycle network, including in Downtown Asheville.
As part of this commitment, the City continues to move forward with a separate project to install bicycle lanes on College and Patton Downtown in fall 2022.
As a former resident of Asheville who now lives in Portland Oregon I can tell you these arguments against bike lanes and other active transit solutions are bogus and based in ignorance. Every issue raised by the opposition has already been dealt with in Portland and many other city’s It’s simply a matter of zooming out to get a broader perspective.