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West Asheville groups fault late-stage I‑26 connector changes, plan community design charrette
Summary
Residents, architects and civic groups criticized late-stage changes to the I‑26 connector design — including a proposed Patton Avenue overpass — and organized a community design charrette to provide alternatives and feedback to NCDOT.
Multiple speakers representing neighborhood coalitions, architects and civic groups told commissioners on May 6 that late-stage changes to the I‑26 connector project — notably a Patton Avenue overpass and lane‑count revisions — were presented without adequate reevaluation of the project's environmental impact statement, community input, or interdisciplinary review.
Rachel Murdaugh (I‑26 Citizens Coalition/AIA Western North Carolina) and other speakers said the overpass design will increase noise and pollution, undermine walking and biking connections between downtown and West Asheville, damage aesthetics and reduce property values along the river corridor, and make the community vision for Patton Avenue impractical. Speakers cited NEPA procedural expectations and said noise and health impacts from elevated roadways are well documented.
Citizen organizers reported more than 1,800 petition signatures opposing the current design and said they will host a community design charrette during DOT's public comment period to produce alternative ideas for NCDOT to consider. Presenters noted the project budget shown on NCDOT’s website rose from $1.2 billion to $1.8 billion and urged county leaders to press for community‑centered adjustments and for DOT to incorporate public input in good faith.
Commissioners were asked to support the charrette and to use their convening power where appropriate; no formal board action on the project was recorded at the meeting.
