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 Bridging
the French Broad River; Creating
connected livable communities; Weaving the interstate system through
Asheville.
A
vibrant city rich in cultural activity, Asheville appears to be the
quintessential livable community. With celebrations of poetry
and
classical music, “brownfield” reclamation efforts,
and the
annual French Broad River Festival, Asheville is filled with residents
who value the area’s natural beauty and lively
spirit. It
has been named one of the country’s “Top 10 Best
Places to
Live” and a “Small Metro Best Place for Business
and
Careers.”
Yet, even in this dynamic community, challenges arise. The
very
things that make Asheville a desirable place to live are threatened as
new development sprawls over farming valleys and forested mountain
slopes. North Carolina’s Department of
Transportation
(NCDOT) has recently completed the final section of Interstate 26,
running from Asheville to Tennessee, and increasing accessibility to
and through the region. Construction of the I-26 connector
through Asheville is scheduled to begin in 2012. The project
will
add lanes to existing portions of the highway and construct a new
section crossing the French Broad River near downtown.
Concerned
citizens worry about the aesthetics of such a project, and want to make
the most of its potential as a catalyst for sustainable development
along the transportation corridor and in the greater community.
 To
address these and other community design challenges, AIA Asheville
has created the Asheville Design Center. The Design Center is
working to engage the community in planning discussions, and to help
shape the project so that this major public works initiative becomes an
asset to the community.
AIA
Asheville has involved community stakeholders in private and
public
presentations and discussions of the project. They have
collected
all existing community and NCDOT plans for the project area.
They
have assembled a team of design professionals who have developed a 3-D
topographical model of the project area, as well as illustrations,
graphics and renderings to help the community visualize various
possibilities. Two community design workshops studied the
design
of the current proposal and suggested improvements. By the
end of
2006, an alternative design incorporating community goals was ready for
public scrutiny. The new plan could save as much as $150
million
by reducing land acquisition and roadway costs while creating
opportunities for the growth of downtown Asheville toward the
riverfront, and improving connections with neighborhoods on both sides
of the river.
The new design recommends:
- Incorporating a new I-26
double-deck
bridge crossing the French Broad River closer to downtown so that
interstate traffic is removed entirely from the existing Smoky Park
bridge
- Returning the Smoky Park bridge to
local
Patton Avenue traffic, and in the process transforming it into the
“mountain main street” originally envisioned by
early city
planners. Incorporating pedestrian, bicycle and public
transportation options, the redesign of Patton Avenue will help connect
currently isolated land parcels with the local street grid, and allow
the return of unnecessary highway right-of-way property back to public
or private ownership for new development.
Visual images and statistical analyses are currently under development
to help determine the costs and benefits of the proposed
alternatives. The Design Center hosted a meeting of the
design
team and NCDOT staff in March 2007. Presentations to the
Asheville City Council and the Buncombe County commissioners
followed. The Metropolitan Planning
Organization will
be asked to require NCDOT to include the Design Center’s plan
in
their ongoing Environmental Impact Statement process.
Meanwhile,
community support of the plan is building. With this support,
the
Design Center hopes to expedite the project through the community
approval process.
The Asheville Design Center is working to obtain a charter as an
independent non-profit organization. It is dedicated to
educating
the public about the importance of good design, and will continue to
provide a venue and the direction for people to work together to use
good design principles in the development of their
communities.
While it remains to be seen how NCDOT will respond to
Asheville’s
concerns about the river crossing, the Design Center has used the
French Broad River project to help put the public at the center of
public policy decisions.
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