The City of Asheville invites citizens to attend an informational meeting about the River Arts District Transportation Improvement Project (RADTIP) from 4-7 p.m. Sept. 24 at the Pack Memorial Library, in the Lord Auditorium, 67 Haywood St.
The meeting is a drop-in style event with stations where people can look at how plans are shaping up. This will also be an opportunity for the community to see impacts on surrounding properties, information that has been offered to all affected property owners. Property acquisition is expected to begin in the near future and will continue through June 2016.
Additionally, while the general plans and alignment of the project are already in place, City planners want to get the public’s input on specific elements that may be taken into consideration as the project moves forward.
“We want people to know they can give input on the look and feel of parts of the project,” says Dan Baechtold, Transportation Planner. “Plants for landscaping, materials for sidewalk, what artwork might be incorporated – people who live, work and play in the River Arts District may have feedback on all of these things.”
Staff will have input forms attendees can fill out, and there will be a 30-day input period during which people may submit the forms, through Oct. 24.
The RADTIP is a multi-modal transportation improvement along Lyman Street and a portion of Riverside Drive. This City project is partially funded by the Federal Highway Administration’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant (TIGER). These grants fund capital investments in surface transportation infrastructure.
The goal of the project is improve the alignment of the road along Lyman Street and Riverside Drive adjacent to the French Broad River, including intersection improvements. Other improvements will include sidewalks, bike lanes, greenways, on-street and off-street parking, stormwater improvements, landscaping and streetscape amenities.
Stations will be set up around the room for people to view construction plans and give their input.
This project implements a 2.2 mile piece of the Wilma Dykeman Riverway, a planned multi-modal corridor in Asheville along the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers. The greenway component will be constructed adjacent to the river.
RADTIP construction will likely take at least two construction seasons, possibly into a third, starting in spring 2017.
In the meantime, there’s an opportunity for you to have a voice in what the end product will look like. Come to this public information session and give your input.
For questions about the meeting or to submit written comments about the project, contact Dan Baechtold, 828-259-5842 or dbaechtold@ashevillenc.gov.
