“Initially, we had a lot of community support for that project,” Sule says about plans for an unpaved trail near Asheville Middle School. “I think as it started to get nearer toward actually getting funded and approved in an easement, some [people] came up and opposed that project.”
The policy aims to increase the connectivity of greenways, improve sidewalks and bike lanes and make public walkways friendlier for disabled residents.
As presented by Lucy Crown, the city’s greenways program planner, Close the GAP combines a proposed map of greenway and pedestrian networks with updates to city policies and design standards. Asheville City Council is scheduled to vote on the proposal in July.
Funded by a $10,000 grant from Mountain Area Workforce Development, a $5,000 grant from New Belgium Brewing Co. and $2,400 from the city Transportation Department, the project established a 6-foot-wide trail on the Town Branch Greenway surfaced with fine gravel. The trail will serve pedestrians and cyclists until its planned removal in 2020 to make way for the greenway’s permanent path.
