Jan Nickerson lives at Pisgah Valley Retirement Community in Candler, one of several unincorporated parts of Buncombe County.
The complex has residences and operations on two sides of Holcombe Cove Road, a busy street with no sidewalks or crosswalk.
So, when Nickerson heard the county was holding a community meeting on its first-ever Pedestrian Plan, she grabbed her husband and a friend and headed over to the venue, the Land of Sky Regional Council.
“Being a retirement community, we have folks in their 70s, 80s and 90s with disabilities who need to get to the dining room, need to get to the wellness center,” she told BPR at the meeting Monday night. “We have people in assisted living who need to walk on our side of the street. And it's perilous to cross the street.”
Nickerson is one of dozens of people who turned out for this week’s meeting in the hopes of getting the county to build sidewalks and crosswalks in their area.
Over the past 40 years, Buncombe County’s population grew by more than two-thirds. Most of that growth happened in unincorporated areas — meaning areas that aren’t governed by the City of Asheville or other municipalities.
But some parts of the county’s infrastructure — especially sidewalks — haven’t kept up with the growth.
Due to a quirk in state law, North Carolina doesn’t have any county roads. Most roads are owned by the state. Cities and towns are able to build sidewalks, but counties are pretty much left in limbo, according to William High, the lead transportation planner for Buncombe County.
He said the Pedestrian Plan is long overdue.
“As our suburban areas keep growing, we need to do some new things,” High told BPR. “Because the county never controlled where the roads went or things like that, we didn't control where the sidewalks go. So, we're trying to get into that conversation and move these types of projects forward.”
High said county staff will use feedback from residents to create some initial recommendations. Then there will be another set of meetings in a few months for more public input. Eventually, the goal is to have a plan to present to the Board of County Commissioners by the end of this year.
High cautioned that not all parts of the county that need sidewalks will be able to get them.
“We're 100 years behind in building sidewalks,” he said. “This is going to be a slow process. But, hopefully, we can make some strides in the coming years to make walking better in Buncombe County.”
Most of the funding will come from the federal government via the state Department of Transportation. A figure for the total amount of money wasn’t immediately available; High said the county doesn’t currently have a standalone program to build sidewalks, so it partners with NCDOT on a project-by-project basis.
“It’s possible that someday we’ll create an independent capital improvement fund for sidewalks, but that will really be a budget decision for the Board of Commissioners,” High said.
Several residents who turned out for the meeting said the lack of sidewalks affects everything from traffic congestion to quality of life and neighborhood connection.
Jessi Lee Cord lives in Emma, an unincorporated area just outside Asheville.
“We're in our forever home, and it's the most beautiful area, I think, in all of Asheville — except we have to drive to walk our dog. We have to drive to run. We have to drive to walk. We have to drive to bike,” she told BPR, as she and her husband filled out comment cards at the event.
Cord said she’s especially concerned about the safety of neighbors who don’t have access to a car and have no other option but to walk.
“I see people walking by daily on the road,” Cord said. “I see mothers with their children going to the daycare center up Emma. It's such an issue and very unsafe. We have seen someone get hit by a car. And we just — I'm a big sidewalk person now because of it.”
She added that she hopes the county is able to put in a sidewalk before more people get injured — although it could be years before the Pedestrian Plan becomes a reality.
Residents who weren’t able to attend the event can provide input online through Friday, March 13. To take the survey, click here.
