I-26 Connector update: Latest DOT work suggests it is taking Asheville-developed alternative for highway route seriously

Montford.org has what I think is a significant update on the development of plans for one of Asheville’s biggest road construction projects, the so-called I-26 Connector project. Montford.org reports that DOT is revising the Asheville-developed alternative route for the road, which is a major step. Note that more information is coming.

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, 2010.

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.

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.

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.