Let’s get real. The Charlotte Street “road diet” recently approved by Asheville City Council is being touted as removing one lane of traffic, but that’s not true. The diet removes one lane in each direction: two lanes.
Currently, traffic in each direction has two through lanes, one of which also serves for left turns. Not particularly broken. Taking advantage of the many wonderful businesses in the area, I have been walking up, down and across Charlotte Street since I moved to the neighborhood more than a decade ago. The only time I have been in danger from a car was a few weeks ago while trying to cross Charlotte Street at one of the new flashing-light crosswalks — I thought I would get wiped out. Cars simply don’t stop because there is no stoplight, and the LED lights provide inadequate warning.
The changes are a done deal, and maybe it will all work out just fine. Another scenario is increasing road rage from backups, followed by more cars cutting through the heart of the neighborhood, where families with young children are moving in. It’s regrettable that there was a fatality “many years ago,” in the mayor’s words, but police reports since then don’t show that the corridor is “very dangerous” to pedestrians. Yes, it feels tight, but my understanding is that the current plan does not even include widening sidewalks.
And, no, I have never seen any of the Council members or the mayor walking along Charlotte Street.
— Nan K. Chase
Asheville
Editor’s note: The writer is the author of Asheville: A History.
Lets not forget that they most likley will not increase the size of sidewalks, most which you cant even get a wheelchair down, because of a bike lanes. Shortsided by the city council but that what we get with AOB and the coziness of the council.
LOL are you calling the mayor a liar? LOL, you think these leftist pass agendas with facts? That they believe in science lulz? LOL, if that were they case, they’d be open and honest about their agendas but they can’t. Their policies suck so much that they have to lie about everything they want to do.
As far as the mayor and other mainly white women are concerned, they live in a nation where they are rapidly gaining supremacy over men with the help of crony government laws. Yet at the same time they vilify most men as evil rapist. Don’t know about you, but a nation where men are subjugated as nothing more than labor and tax donkey’s so their money can be stolen by the government and given to women is not one that has any long lasting path.
“Sir, this is an Arby’s.”
Lulz compared to your normal ravings, that’s a new low of pent up misogyny. On the other hand it might be interesting to visit the alternate reality you apparently live in, where White Female Supremacy is oppressing men by removing some lanes from Charlotte Street.
This is just one small step towards developing an equitable and sustainable transportation system. Weening ourselfs from our addiction to the automobile is going take time and drivers will have to make sacrifices for the good of community. Streets work best when designed around people and not just cars. These ideas about how to best move people around a city are shared worldwide and are proven to work. In time people will adjust their commuting habits as the changes occur
The plan for Charlotte Street is fantastic. I for one am looking forward to the improvements. There will always be the negative comments and the sky is falling crowd upset with any change, but life goes on.