From the Get It! Guide: Asheville is faced with a rising interest in transportation alternatives, but the path to greater advances seems to be lined with historic neglect and budgetary hurdles. The city still has a long walk ahead to fulfill its 2004 goal of building 108 miles of sidewalks. In the last decade, Asheville has constructed only about 18 miles worth.
The billowing local debates over affordable housing and pedestrian safety are pivoting toward a long overlooked section of West Asheville. A proposal for a major new apartment complex at the corner of Hazel Mill Road and Clayton Avenue just north of Patton Avenue is steering the discussion.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx was in Asheville today, Sept. 12, to award the city a $14.6 million federal grant to help complete an interconnected six-mile network of pedestrian, bicycle, roadway, and streetscape improvements in the River Arts District.
Asheville has constructed about 18 miles of new sidewalks since 2006, but that’s a far cry from what advocates say is needed to improve pedestrian safety in the city’s neighborhoods. A new report released by city government shows that it’s fallen well short of its goal of building 108 miles of sidewalk. A 5-year $132 […]
Asheville City Council unanimously approved a $147 million budget June 24, holding the property tax rate steady and committing to major new pedestrian infrastructure projects such as sidewalks and greenways.
Asheville leaders could vote later this month to spend millions of dollars on sidewalks and greenways as part of a capital improvement program for the coming year. The budget also funds Sunday bus service in the city, starting Jan. 1. Yet some residents, and City Council member Chris Pelly, voiced concern during the June 10 budget hearing that such the sidewalk investment […]
One of the biggest hurdles facing local advocates of building more multi-modal transportation infrastructure such is as sidewalks and bike lanes is a shortage of data. In order to help determine the need for improvements, the city of Asheville is seeking volunteers to help take a count of those currently using the local sidewalks, bike lanes and greenways.
The Shady Grove courtyard was demolished Feb. 6, reportedly in order to make room for a new walkway connecting Lexington and Rankin avenues. (Photo by Max Cooper)
At tonight’s East Asheville community meeting, members of the public flooded City Council members with their concerns about the fate of the Asheville water system, the need for more sidewalks and ideas for the Municipal Golf Course. About 50 people attended the meeting. These are the highlights.
(Photo by Bill Rhodes)
Sidewalks slated to be the major focus of tonight’s Jan. 31 East Asheville community meeting at Haw Creek Elementary.
Why are city crews cutting down trees along Patton Avenue?
After several years of living in the "Five Points" neighborhood and walking downtown as much as possible, I am still amazed that the sidewalk going from hereto Lexington Avenue is still in the same condition it has always been in. Unfortunately, this Thanksgiving, a man was killed in the heart of this treacherous stretch of […]
Tonight’s Ashevillle City Council community meeting agenda will focus on initiatives to improve walkable and pedestrian-friendly streets in North Asheville. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. at UNC Asheville’s Sherrill Center.
Here’s a list of actions taken at the June 21 meeting of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners.
Back in October, Asheville City Council members voted to toughen ordinances that require property owners to keep sidewalks clean. Here’s a video — shared with city Council at the Nov. 9 meeting — of volunteer clean-up efforts, led by Z-Link and such government officials as Council member Cecil Bothwell, who narrates. (an Asheville PARC & Z-Links Presentation). Z-Links is planning a Nov. 20, city-wide clean-up.
The Sidewalk Cleanup Story from Bruce Kennedy on Vimeo.
Asheville City Council members voted unanimously to continue a ban on cell-phone towers in residential areas, although cell-phone companies may consider legal action. Publicly owned properties are an exception to the ban. For a summary of other actions and a round-up of Twitter dispatches from Reporter David Forbes, read on.
In this week’s edition of the Local Matters podcast, Xpress staffers Jake Frankel and David Forbes discuss the recent police standoff and the special meeting of Asheville City Council to address pedestrian safety concerns.
The reporters recorded the conversation as they huddled at the site of the standoff on Otis Street, between the federal courthouse and the RBC Bank.
Staff with the city of Asheville have provided videos and downloadable PDF documents covering City Council’s Aug. 31 neighborhood meeting in East Asheville, which focused on the condition of the city’s sidewalks, the city’s sidewalk program, and the sort of sidewalks residents would like to have built.
Sidewalks are a hot issue in Asheville these days, complete with protests, possible changes in city policy and a special Council meeting in Haw Creek at the end of the month focusing on the issue. What’s behind the ruckus?
Billing the event as a “Sidewalk Summit,” East Asheville residents are holding a community meeting to make the case for pedestrian improvements in their neighborhoods. The public gathering will be held at Bell Elementary School on Monday, April 19, at 7 p.m.
