ASHEVILLE – From Interstate 240 south to near Mission Hospital, downtown Asheville is some of the most walked-on real estate in Western North Carolina.
But the 368 acres in Asheville’s city center, it also turns out, can be one big trip hazard for the hordes of tourists, locals and others who tramp its sidewalks daily, downtown’s main advocacy group says.
A recently released “Walkability Study” by the Asheville Downtown Association showed 47 spots that the nonprofit advocacy group labeled as dangerous and in urgent need of improvement. They range from the lack of crosswalks on the city’s main street, Biltmore Avenue, to toe-snagging chunks of sidewalk that jut up on one of the most traveled portions of Broadway.
Fixing the danger spots is a priority because downtown is a key economic driver for the region, said Downtown Association Issues Chairman Byron Greiner.
“The main reason people come to visit Asheville is the downtown. And do we want an unsafe downtown? It’s not just the Biltmore Estate. It’s not just the Blue Ridge Parkway. The downtown is the driving force and the reason people come to the city to visit,” Greiner said.
But paying for such an overhaul, which one rough estimate puts at more than $2 million, will be tricky. Residents and business owners recently got hit with a tax and fee increase. The city, meanwhile, is seeing its revenue sources shrunk through state action. That leaves many locals not excited about a new tax.
“If the city is going to pursue funding sources like bonds or tax increases, those revenues should not be used exclusively for downtown,” said Alice Helms, a Five Points resident who has been pushing for new sidewalks and repairs in her neighborhood just north of the city center.
‘Urgent/Dangerous’
The trouble spots are scattered around downtown and include the city center’s main boulevard as well as paths in the newly developing South Slope. A sampling:
• South Lexington Avenue, on the west side south of Aston Street: “Sidewalk nonexistent and in need of replacement.”
• Buxton Avenue on the south side and east of Milliard Avenue: “Sidewalk ends into abandoned loading ramp and no sidewalk on the other side.”
• Southside Avenue: “Sidewalks broken and in need of repair. Metal plate over a section.”
• Northeast corner of Coxe and Hilliard avenues: “Not enough space between light pole and building to maneuver. Heavy pedestrian area and needs crossing signals.”
• Broadway, on east side between East Walnut Street and College Street: “Uneven pavement all the way across alley up to Walnut — difficult for a wheel chair.”
• College Street across from Pack Square Park: “crumbling sidewalk”
• Eagle Street, north side: “Cement lifting in several parts on ramp and no tree grate.”
• Biltmore, east side across from Aston Street: “Electrical cover lid is broken and a hazard to pedestrians.”
The walkability study was first done in 2012 as part of “Red Day” community project by Keller Williams Real Estate agents. It was updated this summer by downtown association volunteers and included the burgeoning South Slope.
Among the study’s suggestions are the replacement of $1,000 metal tree grates with a “Flexi-Pave” recycled tire product that costs $400, downtown association officials say.
A public records request by the Citizen-Times showed there were seven sidewalk accidents downtown reported to the city’s risk management division from Jan. 1, 2013, through Aug. 25, 2015.
The biggest claim paid was for an April 19, 2014, accident that cost $7,428. On April 23 of the same year, a $126 claim was paid.
Three claims in June, August and September 2014 were either denied or had no money associated with them. The city is still awaiting costs from two claimants in two cases in June and July of last year.
Dewey Smith, visiting from Pickens, South Carolina, was walking south on Broadway Tuesday toward the intersection with East Walnut when he had to negotiate buckling sidewalk. The piece of concrete had been painted brightly to warn pedestrians.
Smith said the sidewalks were “still negotiable — but there’s been a few places that are real bad,” he said.
“There are some places especially where you’re crossing. There are little places you have to be careful; you’ll fall right out in front of a car.”
His wife, Margaret, recounted a close encounter with a tree grate.
“Something I noticed were those little metal square things around trees. They’re loose. I almost lost my balance,” she said.
Municipal employees received the sidewalk study Aug. 17, said city spokeswoman Joey Robison.
“Public works and transportation department staff will be meeting in the coming weeks to review the document and begin discussions regarding an action plan,” Robison said.
The cost, lagging repairs
Lacking an official cost estimate, Greiner has said he believes it would be “$2 million plus” to do the overhaul. He noted it costs about $1,500 to do a curb cut, a type of requested improvement.
In general, city staff has been encouraging about the study and its suggestions, the downtown association issues chairman said. But he acknowledges that paying for the fixes could be tough.
There is $250,000 budgeted annually for city sidewalk repairs. That’s for all 195 miles of Asheville’s sidewalks, including the 22 miles in the Central Business District, the zoning district that covers downtown.
In early August, Public Works Director Greg Shuler said his department had 261 open work orders for repairs.
Shuler said that demand for repairs far outstripped resources and that in many ways the city was playing catch up from decades of neglected maintenance.
As for which sidewalks get fixed first, the public works director said problems deemed “emergencies” are dealt with quickly. Then, he and other employees consider factors such as how long a work order has been open, how much traffic the sidewalk gets and how bad the damage is.
If the problem is hindering wheelchairs, the order might get bumped forward, for example.
Downtown or the city’s new “innovation districts,” will get special attention. Sidewalks on the fix list as of July were sections near Clingman Avenue that were damaged by a sinkhole and Merrimon Avenue from Glenn Falls Road to Stratford Road. Also repairs were planned for wheelchair ramps at Rankin and Walnut streets and North French Broad Avenue and Haywood Street.
When it comes to telling public works about problems, Shuler said an effective way is via smartphone using the Asheville app that can be found at ashevillenc.gov/Departments/ITServices/OnlineServices/CitizenServiceRequests.asp
Where’s the money?
Asked about paying for the repairs, Mayor Esther Manheimer didn’t seem hopeful.
“The city is working hard to improve downtown with better sidewalk maintenance,” but “more is needed,” Manheimer said, adding she was glad the downtown association did the study.
“The challenge of funding needed improvements is much more difficult,” the mayor said. “Revenue options are limited to property taxes, current sales tax revenues (which may be decreased by pending legislation) and fees.”
Manheimer said she supported a food and beverage tax, but that it was unlikely to be allowed by the General Assembly.
Some residents and businesses outside of downtown weren’t keen on an additional tax or fee that would benefit only the downtown.
Five Points resident Helms said her neighborhood was pushing for its own funding.
“I think a walkability study done in any neighborhood would find problems as bad or worse than downtown,” she said.
On the other side of the French Broad River, West Asheville Business Association officer Alice Oglesby said she wasn’t sure about funding sources, but believed the need stretched across the city. West Asheville residents and business owners did their own study of the Haywood Road corridor in 2011, Oglesby said.
“Our needs have expanded since then as the number of businesses, pedestrians and bicyclists has seen significant increase these last four years,” she said.
Hotel room tax money, maybe?
City and Buncombe County government have no control over how the $9.4 million in annual county hotel room tax money is used. By state law, the money must be used to boost the hotel industry.
But following months of at times heated exchanges between city leaders and the tax’s controlling body, the Tourism Development Authority, some rays of hope have appeared for Asheville officials hoping to tap the room tax cash.
On Wednesday when asked about using some of the tax revenue for the sidewalk repairs, Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau head Stephanie Brown, who serves as lead staff member for the authority, said it was a possibility.
Brown agreed that downtown “is a very important part of the visitor experience.”
Normally, individuals and organizations can get grants from the authority by submitting applications for projects that will improve hotel business. Now Brown said the authority wants to work with entities such as the city to see what kind of projects are out there.
“We’re having some conversations about how we can work together to create a priority list,” she said.
In the end, though, some question whether fixing sidewalks will really improve visitor experience. Uneven pathways and quirky buildings are part of Asheville’s charm that brings new residents and visitors alike, said Casey Poblacion, who lives in the Emma Road area of West Asheville and who was walking the uneven bricks of North Lexington Avenue this week.
“We could spend money on something a bit more important than repairing a few cracks,” she said. “I think they’re beautiful. I like the old bricks and I don’t think they should change.”
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