Asheville’s riverfront is a special place that offers something for everyone. Explore the WNC Farmers Market, the NC Arboretum and Bent Creek along the western and southern sections of the city. Enjoy the urban riverfront corridors, transformed through years of partnerships into parks and greenways, and discover vibrant districts for creative commerce and culture such as Biltmore Village, Southside and the River Arts District. Whether you are interested in fishing, paddling, nature based education or the environmental health of our region, the French Broad and the Swannanoa riverfronts are here to welcome you.
What the heck is the RADTIP?
RADTIP stands for River Arts District Transportation Improvement Project, and it was a major design and construction project to re-build the transportation network along the east side of the French Broad River in the River Arts District. It was the centerpiece of a larger, decade-long effort with the community to renovate the greater River Arts District so that it supports its businesses, residents, artists, and the larger Asheville community’s vision as adopted in the Wilma Dykeman RiverWay Master Plan. We used the transportation project as a springboard to reconfigure unsafe road intersections for better traffic flow, create a multi-use path along the river, build a new stormwater management network including 2 constructed wetlands for stormwater management, upgrade the area’s power transmission network, provide wide sidewalks for pedestrians, add bike lanes including the City’s first protected bike lane (Lyman Street section), add almost 200 new public parking spaces, provide about 9 acres of new parkland and install several new pieces of public art. Funding partners included the US DOT, Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority, the NCDOT, NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund, NC Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, and the City of Asheville.
During that decade-long revitalization effort the number of artists and creative businesses in the River Arts District more than doubled.
For construction related questions about the RADTIP contact Dustin Clemens.
For questions about the design and planning of public spaces in the area, and the history of the City’s riverfront investments contact Stephanie Dahl, Planning and Urban Design Director
News - Riverfront Redevelopment
You can view the video recording of the 2020 Online Get-Together to celebrate the Grand Opening of the facilities in the River Arts District here.
YouTube has removed parts of the video due to the use of certain songs. We are working to get permission to have the entire video available. The full recording includes an amazing house band, remarks from our Mayor Esther Manheimer, live poetry, remarks from the community, thanks to the funders, an interview with Charles Small, former Assistant U.S. Transportation Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs and more.