MPO official: draft state transportation plan defunds large sections of planned I‑26 widening

Tristan Winkler, director of the French Broad River Metropolitan Planning Organization, told the Woodfin Town Council on March 18 that the Draft State Transportation Improvement Program released in late January proposes delaying or decommitting many projects across the region, including large portions of the planned Future I‑26 widening.

Winkler, describing the MPO’s role as a regional forum for transportation decision-making, said the STIP must be “fiscally constrained,” meaning the state must show expected revenues to match planned expenditures. He told the council that rising construction estimates — especially for asphalt, labor and right‑of‑way acquisition — have forced the state to remove or delay projects to meet that requirement.

The draft STIP would decommit or delay four projects in Buncombe County and others across neighboring counties. Winkler said one of the projects of direct interest to Woodfin is the A10a segment of the Future I‑26…