Merrimon Avenue Road Diet

This project is managed and implemented by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), which owns and maintains Merrimon Ave. This project is not managed by the City.

Happening Now

Safety, mobility, and volume metrics are being monitored and evaluated on the Merrimon Ave. corridor, which underwent a 4- to 3-lane conversion from W.T. Weaver Blvd. to Midland Rd. beginning in Oct 2022. This 4- to 3-lane conversion, also known as a “road diet” was part of a larger NCDOT project to resurface all of Merrimon Ave. The project became officially complete in May 2024.

A safety and mobility summary report published by NCDOT in June 2024 can be found here.

Additionally, a Merrimon Avenue Post-Construction Data Report Presentation was given by a NCDOT representative at the City’s Multimodal Transportation Commission’s June 26, 2024 meeting. The recorded presentation begins around the 1 hour, 9-minute mark.

Several key takeaways from post-implementation preliminary data collection include:

Safety data is generally positive with reductions in reported crashes on the 4- to 3-lane conversion section.
Motor vehicle speeds were reduced on the 4- to 3-lane conversion section.
Volume data showed an increase in bicycle traffic and mixed results for pedestrians on the 4- to 3-lane conversion section.
Travel time data generally showed an increase in average travel times on the 4- to 3-lane conversion section, particularly in the PM peak. However, Merrimon to the north & south generally showed reduced travel times. When considering the whole 4-mi Merrimon corridor, average travel times at 5 PM increased by 2-14 seconds.
Adjacent routes appear to have minimal changes to average speeds and travel times. There appears to be some diversion of motor vehicle traffic, with a slight drop for the 4- to 3-lane conversion section and an increase for some adjacent routes. Safety data for several adjacent routes suggest there may not be a substantial migration of crashes, particularly for injury crashes.
Additional monitoring and evaluation will be completed.

**Left: Merrimon Ave. Previous Conditions; Right: Merrimon Ave. Post-Implementation 4-to-3 Lane Conversion**

Background

The City’s Comprehensive Plan has a vision to make streets more walkable, comfortable, and connected. Similarly, NCDOT’s primary goal is to Make Transportation Safer. Unfortunately, Asheville has a poor track record when it comes to street safety as it continues to be listed in the top 10 North Carolina cities with high levels of crashes (2020 data, page 140).

In this context, Merrimon Avenue is a neighborhood connector and commuter route with a documented higher-than-normal crash rate that lacks adequate bicycle and pedestrian facilities. Safety for all modes of transportation is a key factor for potential changes.

At the City’s request, the two intersection projects that were proposed for Merrimon Avenue in 2018 were removed by the NCDOT. The projects as proposed would have widened Merrimon Avenue to five lanes by adding a continuous center turn lane from south of WT Weaver Boulevard to north of Edgewood Road. The projects were listed in the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) as U-5781 and U-5782.

The NCDOT held a public input meeting on the proposed intersection projects in January 2018. While a few members of the public expressed support for the proposals, a large number of those who attended the meeting and submitted comments in writing were opposed to the large scale of the proposed changes, and were concerned about the safety impacts and the insufficient facilities for bicyclists and pedestrians. Following this input, the NCDOT and the City of Asheville determined to study other alternatives.

As a result, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) assigned a consulting firm, AECOM, to conduct an “Express Design Study” of Merrimon Avenue to review the possibility of changing the configuration of the corridor to better support city and state goals. NCDOT, the City of Asheville, and the French Broad River MPO met with AECOM on Jan. 28, 2019, to kickoff this study that reviewed the corridor from I-240 to the Beaver Lake area, a distance of about 2.3 miles.

Based on feedback from previous public meetings and discussions with city staff, the NCDOT evaluation reviewed the tradeoffs to maintaining vehicle throughput with safety and equity in mobility. The study took about six months to complete and included a conceptual design, a traffic capacity analysis, and a pedestrian and bicycle report.

The City began reviewing the study at the end of 2019. In 2020, the Covid pandemic led to a near halt to this project until early 2021. On March 24, 2021, the Multimodal Transportation Commission (MMTC) entered the conversation. It was decided that representatives from the MMTC would accompany City staff to further discuss the resurfacing opportunity. During the spring through the fall of 2021, MMTC and city staff met with NCDOT to review data, challenges, and opportunities. As a result of those meetings, NCDOT agreed to reschedule the resurfacing of Merrimon Avenue to give the City more time for these discussions.

Timeline

January 2019 – Commencement of the Express Design Study

Summer 2019 – Merrimon Avenue Study documents are provided to the city

2020 – Covid challenges postpone the project

March 24, 2021 – MMTC discussion of Merrimon Avenue

Spring-Fall 2021 – City and Multimodal Transportation Commission discussions with North Carolina Department of Transportation

February 2022 – City held both an in-person open house and virtual public engagement the week of February 28 to allow the public to review the proposal in more detail, to understand potential impacts and associated data, to provide feedback, and to discuss the topic with staff from both the City and NCDOT.

March 22, 2022 @ 11:59 p.m. – Last day to complete the Merrimon Avenue Survey (please view the Story Map first). Results were shared publicly in April 2022, and can be viewed here.

May 24, 2022 – City Council votes to support the 4/3 conversion

Summer/Fall 2022 – Scheduled implementation of Merrimon Avenue resurfacing and 4/3 conversion implementation

May 2024 – Project implementation fully complete

Past Updates

2/10/2023: The road diet project is expected to be completed by early May. Several items still need to be completed for the road diet to be achieved. Those items include:

Revise some of the curb ramps to ensure ADA compliance
Adjustment of manholes
Adjustment of water valves
Adjustment of catch basins
Adjustment of specific pavement areas to improve drainage

NCDOT specifications do not allow for some of this work to be carried out during the winter months. The contractor plans to resume work on these items on February 20. Once all adjustments above have been made, permanent pavement markings, including bike lane symbols, can be installed. After installation, the road diet section can be fully open to multimodal transportation.

12/5/2022: Paving was completed for all lanes of the road diet section of Merrimon Ave. last night. The final 2 signal loops will be installed this week as weather allows. Curb ramp upgrades, permanent pavement markings and utility adjustments will be ongoing throughout this section weather permitting.

Proposal Purpose: Improving safety and supporting equitable mobility for those traveling, living, working, and visiting Merrimon Avenue. A four-lane to three-lane conversion has been demonstrated to slow vehicle speeds and reduce crashes.

11/28/2022: Contractors resumed paving operations on the “road diet” section of Merrimon Ave on November 27. Paving is expected to finish on the mainline sections by December 2, 2022, but is weather dependent. Subcontractors will continue to work on the signal loops and the new timing sequences to improve traffic flow. Work will also continue for upgrading non-compliant curb ramps throughout the entire corridor over the next several months.

11/10/22: Paving along Merrimon Avenue started Monday, November 7, and will continue until the “Road Diet” section is complete. The forecasted rain on Thursday, November 10, and Friday, November 11, as well as, impending cold weather the following week will have an impact on the paving schedule. Paving cannot continue during rain events or when temperature fall below 35 degrees.

This does not mean that paving operations will stop for the winter, but rather that the paving window will be shorter. The contractor has committed to completing the ‘’road diet” section this year. Curb ramp upgrades and signal loop/timing work will continue during this time frame.

11/4/2022: Milling along the road diet was completed on October, 28, 2022. NCDOT has made significant progress installing signal loops ahead of paving operations. NCDOT has made significant progress installing signal loops ahead of paving operations and will continue to work concurrently with paving activity where able.

Due to operational issues, paving activity has been rescheduled for November 6, 2022.

The contractor hopes to complete paving for the “road diet” section on November 21, 2022. Once paving activity for the “road diet” section is completed, the contractor will begin to install permanent pavement markings and continue to upgrade pedestrian infrastructure. All work for the 3-lane section with the exception of some curb ramp improvements is still anticipated to be completed by the end of November. Once the project is completed, the NCDOT and the City of Asheville will closely monitor the new section and meet on a regular basis to review and analyze the before and after conditions.

11/1/2022: On October 10, 2022, NCDOT began work on Merrimon Avenue which included temporary striping to transition roadway users to the new 4-to-3 lane configuration. The reconfiguration, which is taking place between Midland Road and W.T. Weaver, is the first phase of the larger resurfacing of US 25.

The temporary striping will remain until the entire roadway is repaved, at which point the final striping will be installed, and the traffic signals will be re-timed to optimize traffic flow. At this time, the bike lanes have not yet been installed and will not be until the final restriping takes place. The milling for the 3-lane section is expected to be completed on October 28, 2022 and the paving for the 3-lane section is expected to start on November 2, 2022. Simultaneously, NCDOT will work to replace deficient curb ramps. All work for the 3-lane section with the exception of some curb ramp improvements is anticipated to be completed by the end of November. Once the project is completed, the NCDOT and the City of Asheville will closely monitor the new section and meet on a regular basis to review and analyze the before and after conditions.

10/28/2022: On October 10, 2022, NCDOT began work on Merrimon Avenue which included temporary striping to transition roadway users to the new 4-to-3 lane configuration. The reconfiguration, which is taking place between Midland Road and W.T. Weaver, is the first phase of the larger resurfacing of US 25.

10/18/2022: On October 10, 2022, NCDOT began work on Merrimon Avenue which included temporary striping to transition roadway users to the new 4-to-3 lane configuration. The reconfiguration, which is taking place between Midland Road and W.T. Weaver, is the first phase of the larger resurfacing of US 25.

The temporary striping will remain until the entire roadway is repaved, at which point the final striping will be installed, and the traffic signals will be re-timed to optimize traffic flow. At this time, the bike lanes have not yet been installed and will not be until the final restriping takes place. The milling for the 3-lane section is expected to begin around October 17, 2022 and the paving for the 3-lane section is expected to start the following week. All work for the 3-lane section with the exception of some curb ramp improvements is anticipated to be completed by the end of November.

6/1/2022: On May 24, 2022, the city’s transportation department director provided a presentation to the Asheville City Council, which voted in support of proposed changes to Merrimon Avenue that will implement a 4/3 lane conversion between WT Weaver Boulevard and Midland Road.

1/25/2022:The City of Asheville is reviewing a proposal to reconfigure Merrimon Avenue as part of the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s (NCDOT) upcoming resurfacing of the corridor. The consideration under review is whether to implement a four-lane to three-lane conversion in order to improve safety for all users and to support equitable mobility.

The area under consideration for public feedback is between I-240 and Midland Road. Whereas the configuration of the corridor is currently two moving lanes in each direction, the four- to three-lane conversion would change the street so that there would be only one moving lane in each direction with a continuous center turn lane, and bicycle lanes on each side. It would look similar to the recently updated Charlotte Street, north of I-240.

Supporting Documents

Merrimon Avenue Report and Resolution – 2/18/2018

Merrimon Avenue Letter to NCDOT – 10/18/2018

Original Express Design Conceptual Plans – 7/30/2019

Merrimon Avenue Traffic Capacity Analysis – 7/8/2021

Merrimon Avenue Bicycle Level of Service – 8/20/2021

NCDOT Frequently Asked Questions – 5/20/2022

Staff Report for the City Council – 5/24/2022

NCDOT Survey Summary

NCDOT Ten Year Traffic Crashes – Merrimon Strip Analysis Report

Informational Flier

Link to Story Map

Link to Interactive Map of Study Area

Contact Information

Any questions that you might have regarding the construction activities, please contact Mr. Joseph Lawrence, who is the Resident Engineer with the NCDOT at (828) 298-0080 or jrlawrence@ncdot.gov.

Any questions that you might have regarding the road diet, please contact Ms. Jessica Morriss, who is the Assistant Transportation Department Director with the City of Asheville at (828) 232-4528 or jmorriss@ashevillenc.gov.