Asheville News

Biltmore Village business owners worried about bridge construction’s impact on business

Jason Sandford January 11, 2010

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

Business owners in Biltmore Village are worried about the impact that a big bridge construction project will have on their businesses. Crews are replacing the Biltmore Avenue bridge over the Swannanoa River near the heart of Biltmore Village. Traffic in the area is already a mess, and the construction will make things messier for at least the next five months.

Loyal reader Duncan tells me that Biltmore Village business folks are meeting early this week to talk about how to support one another and get word out that they’re still open despite all the construction mess. Does anyone have details on this meeting?

Background from the Asheville Citizen-Times‘ story on Jan. 5:

Workers with contractor Taylor & Murphy Construction Co. had started closing the bridge at night in late November to prepare for its replacement, but Monday was the first daytime closure caused by the $2.1 million project.

The closure began at about 10:45 a.m. Monday, postponed from Sunday night because cold would have hindered work.

It will continue for more than three months while workers demolish the crumbling, decades-old bridge across the river and install its replacement, parts of which are being prefabricated a few yards away. The deadline for completion is April 30.

Biltmore Village is a choke point for traffic even when all of its roads and streets are functioning normally. The four-lane Biltmore Avenue bridge carried 28,000 vehicles a day last year, according to state Department of Transportation figures.

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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7 Comments

Jeff January 12, 2010

Aside from giving successful directions to a stranger, it ain’t rocket surgery. Use McDowell Street. Yes it’s got heavier traffic due to the mess, but it’s still WAY better designed for getting people through Biltmore Village.

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ThePhan January 12, 2010

They were working on it even tonight–always a good sign.

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Fran Rice January 12, 2010

I think this bridge will actually be rebuilt in a short time period. I predict it will be open in March.

This is a very vital traffic corridor in Asheville and hopefully all officials and agencies involved in this project know that it must be done PROPERLY and FAST.

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eemilla January 11, 2010

They are working the slow season; just think what a disaster it would be if they worked in the summer or fall. There are sidewalks which people could use to avoid driving in the construction mess.

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tara January 11, 2010

they have been meeting for months regarding this issue…

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Rachel January 11, 2010

I can definitely see how this will affect businesses on Biltmore Ave. Just the other day I was heading to Moe’s with a friend, saw the construction, and had to turn around. We went somewhere else to eat because we didn’t want to mess with maneuvering around the construction.

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bill January 11, 2010

I hate to be the one who points things like this out, but… there is no reason at all for any suffering.
The state should have put a temporary bridge upstream of the existing one which would allow them to take all the time they need to replace the bridge which, when finished, will still be 50+ years out of date.
They will still have flood issues with it, and there will still be a grade-crossing of an increasingly busy railroad next to it.
whatever they spend on this is a mess.

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