Streets


 

The City of Asheville currently maintains approximately 404 miles of streets and 195 miles of sidewalk within the city. Asheville has a total of 564 miles of City- and State-maintained streets within the City limits.  The City of Asheville has the authority in accordance with North Carolina General Statutes to accept streets into its adopted system for maintenance. The City of Asheville Public Works Department maintains an official inventory of streets that have been accepted for maintenance by the City. This inventory shows, by street name:

  • Beginning and ending point: These descriptions include the location of where the City’s maintenance begins and ends.
  • Length: This is the length of the street surface that is maintained by the City. Length is recorded to the nearest .01 mile, or 53 feet.
  • Width: This is the average width of the street surface.

All streets listed in the Street Inventory are considered City-maintained streets. All other streets in the city are either privately maintained or maintained by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT). Click here for the complete City Maintained Street inventory.

City crews, including three concrete maintenance crews, one sidewalk crew, one asphalt crew, and one preventative maintenance crew, currently handle such street projects as:

Street repairs: asphalting potholes, replacing curbs and gutters, repairing right-of-way cuts, resurfacing sidewalks, and providing emergency street service. Is my street a City-maintained street?

Snow removal: Emergency services include snow removal where service is prioritized by major arterioles (first priority), and minor through streets and residential streets (second priority). All City bus routes are first priority streets. View a map of snow removal priorities.

Roadside mowing: Street crews also mow and maintain about 750 miles of roadside vegetation.

Street sweeping: Street crews sweep downtown four nights each week as well as Biltmore Village one night each week.

 


Service requests

Need to report a pothole? To report potholes or other maintenance needs, use the Asheville App or call 828-259-5852.
Call 911 to report serious street emergencies like a street collapse or sinkhole.

 


Keeping Sidewalk and Grass Strips Clean and Unobstructed

 

Grass, weeds, debris, and bush and tree limb overgrowth on and around sidewalks and curbs continue to be a problem, especially towards the end of summer. Vegetation overgrowth and debris on and around sidewalks affect the safety of pedestrians having to avoid the obstruction and give our city an unkempt look. Also, during the winter months, weather events that accumulate snow and ice can cause the sidewalk to be hazardous or unusable for pedestrians. The City of Asheville’s Code of Ordinances, Chapter 16; Street, Sidewalk and Other Public Places, Article I; In General, Section 16-3; Keeping sidewalks, grass strips, drainage swales, and gutters clear, clean, and unobstructed., Sub-section C; Maintenance Requirements., Number 1 through 4. The specific ordinance states as follows:

 

  1. Sidewalk, curb and grass strip: It shall be the responsibility of the responsible party to ensure that the public sidewalk and curb abutting a property owner’s property are kept clear of dirt, grass, weeds, mud, trash, debris, and vegetation of any kind to prevent a hazard to the public. The vegetation shall be removed, cut, or trimmed so as not to require a pedestrian to take evasive action to avoid physical contact with the same or otherwise hinder the safe passage of pedestrians. The grass strip between the sidewalk and curb is to be kept mowed to a height not to exceed eighteen (18) inches.
  2. Drainage swales: The responsible party that has a drainage swale running along the street that abuts the responsible party’s property shall mow and otherwise properly maintain such swale so that it can continue to serve its proper drainage function.
  3. Ice: The responsible party whose property abuts a paved sidewalk upon which ice may in any manner accumulate from any source other than from a weather event, shall remove such ice from the sidewalk on or before 10:00 a.m. each day in which the temperature exceeds 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
  4. Weather event: The responsible party whose property abuts a paved sidewalk, shall remove snow, hail, sleet, and other similar accumulation from such within forty-eight (48) hours after the snow, hail, sleet or other similar accumulation ceases to fall.

 

Please help the community by keeping the sidewalks, curb, grass strip, and drainage swales around your property clean and clear. If you see problems on or around sidewalks, please call the Streets Services Division’s Code Enforcement Officer at 828-259-5749 to report concerns. We will follow up with the complaint and remind adjacent property owners of their obligation to keep Asheville looking great.

 


Temporary Street Closures

 

The City maintains a list of permitted street closures by the Transportation Department. Temporary repair closures by the Public Works Department and closure information for state roads managed by the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the Metropolitan Sewerage District (MSD) of Buncombe County are not included.

Visit sidewalks, lanes, and greenways closure map for a list of street and sidewalk closures.