NCDOT Making Changes to Plans
Members of the Montford I-26 Working Group met with members of the Asheville Design Center’s (ADC) I-26 Task Force on March 5th to learn details about a meeting in late February between the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), City of Asheville staff, and representatives from the ADC regarding the I-26 connector.
Stephanie Panciewicz and Bruce Emory from the ADC reported that the NCDOT has been working on making revisions to Alternate 4B, based on community feedback. Included in these changes are plans to bring I-26 under Patton Avenue on the west side of the French Broad River and to shorten the length of the elevated highway as it comes by the Montford neighborhood. These changes have helped to reduce the estimated cost of Alternate 4B by approximately $30 million. Projected costs for the alternatives, not including land acquisition is estimated by the NCDOT as follows:
- Alternate 3 – $171 million
- Alternate 4 – $225.2 million
- Alternate 4B – $264.2 million
The NCDOT has met with North Carolina’s Historic Preservation Office to determine the best way to deal with the highway’s impacts to Riverside Cemetery, and they will incorporate those suggestions into the redesign. Additionally, the NCDOT has dropped Alternate 2 from consideration. There have been no changes made to Alternate 3 since October, 2009.
These recent developments suggest that the NCDOT is listening to the community and is putting real energy into incorporating community feedback. They also appear to be taking Alternate 4B quite seriously, as they are spending time and money to refine 4B. This represents a successful effort on the part of local activists to protect the Burton Street Community and to further the community’s goal of splitting local and highway traffic on the Smoky Park Bridge.
Alternate 4B Impacts on Montford Still Need to Be Addressed
Now that Alternate 4B is being considered as a truly viable alternative, it is time for the City of Asheville, the local press, and local activists to listen and respond earnestly to Montford’s concerns about the impact this plan will have on our neighborhood, including a significant rise in noise and air pollution, and removal of homes on Hill Street, Courtland Place, and Westover Drive.
In December of 2009, neighbors from Montford met with the Asheville Design Center to come up with suggestions to improve 4B. The NCDOT’s plan to reduce the length of the elevated highway appears to meet at least one of our goals, however, it is not yet clear how this will change the configuration of merging I-26 and 19/23 traffic. The original NCDOT Alternate 4B shows 12 lanes running along the edge of Montford Hills. Until new drawings are submitted by the NCDOT for review in May, we won’t know if this has been addressed. Additionally, the DOT indicated that recent revisions to 4B require the removal of at least one home on Westover Drive.
Other suggestions that were offered to the NCDOT included changing the ramps connecting I-26 to 240 in order to save homes on Hill Street, and providing a greenway connection between Montford and the river. There were also some suggestions made regarding improving access from the Hillcrest community to Patton Avenue. According to Stephanie Panciewicz, the DOT reports that they cannot adopt our suggestion to help Hill Street due to turning radius requirements. They are also not required to provide for a greenway connection because Asheville’s Greenway Plan does not currently include a connection there. If the greenway connection can be added to the City’s maps, the DOT will include this in their own plans. Finally, the DOT will need the City of Asheville and the Housing Authority to decide whether changes to Hillcrest should be made.
There will be more information forthcoming from the NCDOT in the next several weeks and months. A new traffic forecast should be completed in March. The traffic study should be pivotal in determining the number of lanes that are required for the project, and this determination could be the most important factor in both the cost to build the I-26 Connector and the potential impacts to all of the neighborhoods that it touches.
A complete noise study will be issued as part of the Supplement to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, scheduled for release in late spring or summer of 2010. The DOT indicated that findings already show significant noise impacts to 20 historic properties from Alternate 4B. The ADC was not clear on whether this information includes noise impacts to the Montford Hills neighborhood, which is not in the historic district. For more information about the NCDOT’s policies on noise and noise abatement visit http://ncdot.org/doh/preconstruct/pe/ohe/noiseair/.
The SDEIS will include all of the NCDOT’s revisions to Alternates 3, 4 and 4B, and updated, animated visualizations will be submitted for community review. The public hearing and public comment period will be scheduled for some time in summer of 2010, and the DOT plans to make a final selection by the fall of 2010.
Here’s How You Can Help
Today: Encourage the City of Asheville and the Greenway Commission to include connections between the Montford Community Center and the riverside greenway, and between Montford Commons and the greenway in the City’s Greenway Plan. Esther Manheimer is the City Council liaison to the Greenway Commission.
April: The Asheville Design Center and others in the city have frequently argued that the highway should run along its existing path. That argument makes sense – as long as the path does not change from an existing 4 lane structure to a massive 12 lane structure that encroaches on and severely impacts our homes. Let City Council members know that you are concerned about the specific impacts of Alternate 4B on the Montford Neighborhood and that you expect them to do everything in their power to reduce those impacts. Tell them to review the traffic study issued by the NCDOT and demand that they require the NCDOT to provide plans for a six-lane version in addition to an eight-lane version.
Summer: Attend the public hearing this summer, ask questions so you understand the impacts to Montford, and make comments directly to the NCDOT regarding noise abatement, and specific design features. Continue to stay in touch with elected officials regarding your concerns.
