Supporting City Council’s goals for Transportation and Accessibility and the community who requested changes to speed limits, the recommended speed limits below were approved by City Council on May 23, 2023 at their regularly scheduled meeting.
- Wells Avenue from Brevard Road to Fairfax Avenue – establish 15 mph
- East Street from Fairview Road to Thompson Street – establish 20 mph
- Hampden Road from Kensington Drive to Waverly Court and SR-3548 (Clingman Avenue/Haywood Road) from Patton Avenue to Riverview Drive – establish 25 mph
- SR-3412 (Sand Hill Road) from Haywood Road to Wendover Road – establish 30 mph
- SR-3556 (Meadow Road) from Amboy Road to Victoria Road – establish 35 mph
New speed limit will go into effect once signs have been posted. New signs for city-maintained streets are expected to be posted by the end of June. The City of Asheville would like to thank community members who requested the changes. The City of Asheville encourages drivers to travel safely and mindfully, especially in residential areas.
Find out more on the Neighborhood Resources web page.
What if I have a speeding problem in my neighborhood?
When residents identify a particular street segment as being potentially viable for traffic calming measures, the first step should be to fill out a Traffic Calming Program Questionnaire, which includes a petition. After sending this to the City, the Transportation Department will work with the neighbors to obtain any further information needed to move on to the next step.
The Transportation Department is focused on managing traffic speeds on roads that do not have established speeds outside of the 35 mph ordinance. As capacity allows, Traffic Engineering will perform an engineering and traffic study in requested areas to determine whether measures to slow traffic are warranted.
What determines if my street is a candidate for traffic calming?
The traffic engineering study must show:
- 15 percent or more of vehicles are traveling more than 5 miles per hour over the speed limit, or the total traffic volume on the street must be greater than 1,000 vehicles per day; and
- Approval by the Asheville Fire Department to ensure that emergency response times will not be negatively impacted if traffic calming measures are installed.
Traffic calming studies take time and examine a number of factors, followed by designation of funding for implementing changes. Once street calming has been justified by the above measures, the street will be considered as a candidate for an upcoming traffic calming project.
Note: Stop signs are not used for traffic calming purposes, although the City does create All-Way Stop intersections on a case-by-case basis due to other safety and operational concerns.