In a 5-1 vote (Mayor Terry Bellamy was absent with a sick daughter), Asheville City Council approved a comprehensive bicycle plan for the city.
The plan maps out 181 miles of bike-able routes throughout the city, and was supported at the Feb. 26 meeting by a crowd of helmet-clad cyclists. Though the extensive plan — which weighs in at more than 150 pages — and the yet-unknown expense of implementing it raised comment by some on Council, transportation planners envision implementing the plan in small steps, and City Manager Gary Jackson said it would be considered as part of the Asheville’s capital-improvement campaign.
Council member Carl Mumpower was the only “no” vote. For more on the story, see the March 5 issue of Xpress.
— Brian Postelle, staff writer
photo by Jonathan Welch
Multimedia articles? Awesome!
Welcome to the future ladies and gents!
Way to go to the active community who came out strong to support Asheville’s dedication to a healthy regional, municipal, and citizen environment. This resolution deserved to pass without hesitation.
Huzzah!
w00t!
The cyclist community has been working so hard to help our city graduate to a place that truly encourages alternative transportation.
Kudos to the cyclists and the Council.
Another example of City Council living in the land of make believe. Spending millions on bike paths is asinine. How many people actually ride bicycles into town? Damn few. When was the last time that you did? Oh, never. How many drive motor vehicles in and cannot or have trouble finding a parking space? Hundreds if not thousands everyday. It would be wonderful if we were all fit and active. But reality check… Asheville is a retiree town and tourist destination. Please address the real problems with real answers.
Lots of people ride bikes in Asheville, and the numbers will grow as it is made safer, through measures such as these. But don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll get a few more parking decks along the way.
this is a great idea…there should be some way to connect all the parts of asheville – weaverville to downtown to south asheville to hendersonville – and east to west
it makes sense especially with our economy and the price of gasoline
thumbs up!
Paul –
Asheville is not just a retiree & tourist town, nor should it be. I meet dozens of young & middle aged active, creative people each week who have moved to this area for diverse yet overall simple reasons. If you look at studies about the future of urbanization in America, it seems likely according to all experts that downtown centralization is the future for the next 50 years. The suburb sprawl of the 1950’s is dying and gentrification will force poverty into these cheaply made overpriced abandoned subprime mortgage crisis homes. As cities become more active in the role of the larger sense of community, they are going to have to grow with purpose. Asheville has the potential to be the prime example of forward motion when it comes to creative ways to deal with growth. This is a time of exponential change in America and we need creative ideas for how we are going to deal with environmental concerns and the overall health and well being of our citizens. I am not sure if I agree with the statement that Asheville is the ‘Happiest place in America’ – but that doesn’t mean it isn’t something we can strive for. Healthiness is happiness. And I know you never ride your bike into town by the tone of your statements, but if you had shown up that night as I did to support this referendum (technically I am more of a pedestrian when possible but I support all forms of transportation that don’t cause overall death and pollution) you would have seen scores of folks there with their bike helmets on.
I understand your frustration with parking, maybe we need to promote smaller cars so we can make more spaces in our parking decks. I rarely understand the need for huge 4x4s and Hummers.
Read this excellent article if you get a chance: (http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200803/subprime)
Paul
I think this is a fantastic idea. I love ridin bikes with my daughter to town but have been worried by traffic, theft, and disdain from vehicles. I know some bikers flaunt the law of the road but plenty of car drivers do also. We will certainly bike more as it becomes safer and easier. (She could also start ridin her bike to school like I did as a child.
Congrats to all the cyclists who helped make this happen and get the vote done right. Super news, and a great start to what I hope is a decades-long ambitious and well-planned advancement of bike power all around Asheville. Good work.
I for one would ride my bike more with some designated lanes. I bought a bike two years ago but was scared as hell from all the traffic blowing by. And with a bicycle related death two weeks ago we need this more than ever.
Congrats to all of Asheville.
A few years ago I was able to live in The Hague, The Netherlands for the entire summer. Dutch people of all ages utilized their bike lanes which even had traffic lights in certain intersections. As a result, the roads were less congested, air quality was great, and the majority of the culture was physically fit. This included teens to senior citizens, all of which road bikes through the city.
Not only are these new bike lanes good for the current bikers in Asheville, but hopefully, much like The Netherlands, the culture will change and many more people will chose to ride their bike instead of wasting gas. Also, this will reduce parking problems and traffic congestion. This is a win win situation for everyone. Asheville should be proud of this pioneering step which continues to make this place such an amazing place to live.
Bicycles are a communist plot to keep us from needing to buy healthcare from Keiser. If people actually rode bikes, they would see how incredibly inneficiant they are. You have to pedal them! with your legs!! Helllo?
Plus, if we dont continue buying American cars made in Mexico, then how will our economy recover from a Democrat running for office??
Sammule
I guess your on the money there. Also how will we be able to justify a war on Venezuela? We need their oil and the country is run by a commie wierdo who has outward disdain for our wonderful prez….