From Staff Reports 

An update on the Metropolitan Planning Organization, focusing on the proposed I-26 connector in West Asheville, was presented to the Council of Independent Business Owners during its Nov. 1 issues meeting. About 35 to 40 people attended.

Also, CIBO heard about the progress of the Buncombe County Cultural Recreation Authority from David Gantt, chairman of both the CRA and Buncome County Board of Commissioners.

In addition, Assistant County Manager Mandy Stone told about the impact of the recent partial government shutdown on Buncombe County.

Regarding the MPO, City Councilman Jan Davis said, “I was asked to speak about the MPO … What they do is that it’s the public’s link to DOT (Department of Transportation), transportation improvements” and other related agencies and issues.

He added, “Elected officials are appointed to represent their bodies to interact with DOT on a very personal level.

“We all meet there and provide a public forum, once a month, out of the Land of Sky Regional Council.” The group includes Buncombe, Henderson, Haywood and Madison counties.

“It’s important that we find out where the money’s going” for transportation improvements,” Davis said. “The MPO put together a group in about February to work toward getting an agreement on alignment in moving forward with the I-26 connector. “

He added that “if any good thing comes from (the officer’s fatality recently) is that it will raise public awareness of safety on that (Jeff Bowen) bridge.”

Davis warned that “there will be a day when a tanker overturns and people burn up. … Now with Gov. (Pat) McCrory... we have a possibility with a new funding formula.

“What we really need is an alignment between the city and county governments. We have been meeting every month, several times a month, since February. … The first is alignment — alternative 3 and alternative 4-B. We’ve recognized that those don’t fit today.

“Another things we work toward is neighborhood preservation…. which very much affects West Asheville. Another thing … is the number of lanes — six or eight lanes.

“So what we have to do is work on alignment where it affects the neighborhoods the least… reconfiguring in a way that allows for pedestrian movement. You know how popular it is in Charleston (S.C.) for people to walk across the Cooper River bridge.

“We also have an interest in the east side of the river and what that will do with development there. We’re making good progress.”

Davis noted that “funding is a real difficult part of it. Under Gary’s (City Manager Gary Jackson’s) leadership, we’ve set aside $1 million… That’s part pf your tax increase. Communities that put ‘skin in the game’ get their projects to move up. All of us in this room are.” 

Regarding the fatal accident on the bridge, Davis said, “This is a professional driver who made the wrong move. It’s happened. We need to fix it. It is the No. 1 safety problem in our state highway system. It’s the place with the most accidents. That’s costing us a lot of money,” removing accidents.

Davis noted that the public hearings will start in February. “We’re about a year and a half off on a part” of the project. “I personally would favor six lanes because it would impact the community a lot, but it’ll probably be eight lanes because a lot of traffic is going to be coming up that road 20 years from now.

“Another things very important to people in this room is the Leicester Highway. It had five roundabouts. … Roundabouts work very well, but that might have been excessive in that rural area. They’ve worked well in the city,” Davis said.

“So DOT — acting really well, in my opinion — said ‘we’d go back to the drawing board and see what we can do to make this wider road better’” and eliminated the roundabouts on newest Leicester road plan.