From Staff Reports

Two engineers from the North Carolina Department of Transportation addressed road issues during the June 3 breakfast meeting of the Council of Independent Business Owners at UNC Asheville’s Sherrill Center.

About 50 people attended the 90-minute event.

Originally, Tim Anderson, NCDOT’s division engineer, was scheduled to address CIBO, but he was “under the weather” and “couldn’t make it this morning,” CIBO President and moderator Buzzy Cannady noted.

“Instead, we have Steve Cannon and Nathan Moneyham,” both of whom are NCDOT engineers, Cannady said.

Cannon spoke first, addressing project development. Specifically, he noted that the situation has changed significcantly — and “it just came out this past Tuesday (May 31) in draft form.”

He then quoted the draft as stating the following:

“Due to rising costs for projects funded in the currently adopted 2020-2029 STIP (State Transportation Improvement Plan), little to no funding is projected to be available for projects in P6.0 (NCDOT’s prioritization process).

“Therefore, on Aug. 4, 2021, the P6.0 Workgroup and the North Carolina Board of Transportation decided to halt the P6.0 process.”

Among the local projects that will be going forward, Cannon said, are the following:

• Bridge replacement on Reems Creek Road

• Broadway Street improvements

• Haywood Road pedestrian improvement project 

• Charlotte Street ramp pedestrian upgrades, etc.

However, Cannon noted that improvements to I-26 from Broadway Street to U.S. 25/70 ”will not be delivered as soon as planned.”

The Blue Ridge Road interchange with I-40 “is one we call ‘committed’ and will move forward on,” Cannon said.

Also, he noted that the Liberty Road interchange with I-40 “is one we call ‘committed’ and will move forward on.”

At that point, he asserted that “another project we get a lot of questions on… is Sweeten Creek Road, so design for that is being put on hold for a couple of years — from U.S. 25 to Rock Hill Road. The area is growing rapidly. Right now, we’re on hold with that one.”

However, Cannon noted that improvements to “Sardis Road to Sand Hill Road — that one stays in.”

What’s more, he said that “about 10 greenways are slated for construction in the next fiscal year.

As for construction projects, Cannon said that Merrimon Avenue falls under the “resurfacing” category. “It does have a component where we can modify the road, such as adding bicycle lanes. We also had two intersection projects for W.T Weaver (Boulevard) and Edgewood (Road).

Cannon added, “When the resurfacing of that road (Merrimon) came up as just routine maintenance, the city (of Asheville) spoke up and asked if we could do something to improve that. … We will be monitoring it closely to see how it (narrowing it to three lanes flanked on each side by bike lanes) impacts everything....”

Speaking next was Moneyham, also an NCDOT engineer, who noted that a 7.6-mile stretch of I-26 in Buncombe County is being widened from four lanes to eight lines —and that the project is “roughly at the halfway point right now.”

Moneyham also reported that widening of eastbound direction of I-26 is proceeding. “All eastbound traffic has been switched over to the widened section... Westbound, southside of the project, switched November 2021.

When the eastbound lanes “are finished, we’ll switch all traffic (9n both directions) to that. Then we’ll finish the westbound lanes.

“We did a lot of installation of drainage (early in the project) that people don’t see. Soon, you will start to see lots of progress on I-26 widening this summer.

“We have signage on the (French Broad) river at access points all the way upstream to Brevard, to ensure nothing from I-26 construction falls” on those using the river below, Moneyham said.

“The largest structure we have on the project is the Blue Ridge Parkway bridge.We’ll start construction on the westbound side (of the Parkway bridge) in July. The eastbound side (Parkway bridge construction) will start some time next year.

“The bridge itself is precast and being built in Wilmington,” Moneyham noted.

In closing, the engineer reviewed what he termed “some other miscellaneous information about the I-26 widening project. We do utilize the ICM (integrated corridor management) detour, with hours — night work — lane closures operation 7/8 p.m. to 6/7 a.m. Lane closures/nothing during the day.”

During a question-and-answer session afterward, CIBO member Mac Swicegood asked the engineers about “traffic safety on Merrimon” Avenue.

In response, Cannon said, “What we’re after is increased safety in the corridor, while balancing efficiency.”

An unidentified woman at the meeting then asked about what she termed “the lack of investment in the Cherokee area… Corridor K has been on the backburner for 25 or 30 years. It has the possibility” of opening up the area to major economic development. 

“That (the Cherokee area) is actually in Divison 14. We can get that information from our engineers over there — and get it to you.” The woman thanked Cannon and accepted his offerto help her obtain information on Corridor K.

In answer to another question from a CIBO meeting attendee, Cannon noted that the Sweeten Creek Road widening project is not scheduled until “2033 for review of  the construction of the project.”