The snow that dumped 2 to 3 inches on the Asheville area Wednesday continued its impact on ART bus service this morning but all routes are now running.
Motorists heading out this morning were cautioned to beware of black ice that may have formed on treated City streets overnight. The good news: Virtually all streets maintained by the City of Asheville have now been cleared and/or treated.
Asheville City Hall is open as usual today.
The City’s four parking garages remained open for free through 10 a.m. today.
Asheville City and Buncombe County schools remain closed.
ART bus service
While ART buses operated on a delay this morning all routes are now in service. There are a few route deviations, due to icy roads. Visit the ART service alerts webpage for more information.
Trash and recycling
Asheville Sanitation will resume trash and recycling pickup at 10 a.m. today. Customers who were missed when Sanitation collection was suspended Wednesday will have their trash and recycling picked up on Friday.
Street crews continue around the clock
Priority one roads are passable and though there is a possibility of re-freeze.
The Streets Division was able to treat all priority 1 roads Wednesday and 95 percent of priority 2 streets. Crews continued working overnight with plows to clear roads. Salt treatments are less effective in this extreme cold. Crews are monitoring streets and will re-apply salt if necessary.
The crewed cleared on priority 1 streets first, as these are thoroughfares needed by first responders for emergency access. The priority 2 roads are mostly neighborhood and subdivision streets.
Visit the City’s SnowMapper webpage to look at which are priority 1 and priority 2 streets, which are NCDOT-maintained roads and which are privately maintained.
Parks & Recreation
The Montford Recreation Center opened at 9 a.m. for Snow Day Fun. Shiloh and Stephens-Lee recreation centers will open at noon. All other centers will remain closed. Asheville Municipal Golf Course will remain closed. The WNC Nature Center plans to open at its usual time of 10 a.m. Riverside Cemetery will open at 10 a.m.
All City of Asheville parks will be open as they are clear and safe. Youth athletic programming is cancelled for today. Adult athletic programming will be determined at noon.
Code Purple
The Homeless Coalition announced that Code Purple remains in effect through Jan. 19. Please encourage people to seek safe shelter. For resources, visit this link.
Governor declares State of Emergency
Governor Roy Cooper today declared a state of emergency in advance of the snow and urged North Carolinians to stay off the roads.
The governor’s declaration triggers a state law against charging excessive prices during an emergency, such as for gasoline.
Check back for more updates. We will share information here as it becomes available.