Mars Hill seeks input from residents on new bike and pedestrian path

Johnny Casey, Asheville Citizen Times
·4 min read

MARS HILL - The town of Mars Hill is moving forward with a number of projects in which it and Town Manager Nathan Bennett have been working to see finalized for years.

The projects include a bike and pedestrian path, as the town has published its community input survey on the topic on its website.

The survey was released to the public on May 3 through the town's Facebook account, and was sent to The News-Record & Sentinel in an email.

"The Mars Hill Bicycle + Pedestrian Plan will help evaluate future connections between the downtown core of Mars Hill with recreational, cultural, residential, and educational destinations throughout the Town," Bennett said in the email. "The study will document current conditions for bicyclists and pedestrians within the local transportation system, identifying opportunities for better connectivity, and will incorporate public input into the network analysis and recommendations for infrastructure, policy, and programs within the Town."

In his report to the Mars Hill Town Board May 6, Bennett said the bike and pedestrian path project is in conjunction with the French Broad River Metropolitan Planning Organization and the state Department of Transportation.

"We don't currently have a plan, and we stand in need of one pretty desperately," Bennett said in the report. "There are a lot of things we'd like to do around the town, specifically in terms of pedestrian access."

Bennett said the town has appointed a steering committee for the project, and members include Ryan Bell and Sherrye Perry.

Consultants met with the town in April to perform a conditions analysis on existing sidewalks and greenways, as well as existing and nonexisting bikeways.

The goal of the plan is to assess current conditions, recommend a system of multimodal travel connecting bicyclists and pedestrians to key cultural resources in the town, recommend programs and policies, provide an overview of plan implementation, and garner support for adoption of the plan by the town's governing body.

The town's website contains a page dedicated to the report, which features presentations from the steering committee.

The survey will be open for public comment through June 21.

The Mars Hill Town Board entered into an agreement with the North Carolina Department of Transportation on a landscape maintenance agreement to provide tree and plant additions at a number of North Carolina 213 sites, including at the welcome sign pictured here.
The Mars Hill Town Board entered into an agreement with the North Carolina Department of Transportation on a landscape maintenance agreement to provide tree and plant additions at a number of North Carolina 213 sites, including at the welcome sign pictured here.

Tree maintenance, parking lot renovations

Other projects include a landscape maintenance agreement along Main Street and N.C. 213 in collaboration with the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

The project is in response to a number of trees along the corridor requiring removal due to disease, the town manager said.

Areas receiving additions include the existing 'Welcome to Mars Hill' sign across from the Bojangles on N.C. 213, as well as the Ingles hillside, Bennett said.

Bennett said the DOT team will perform the removal and install new trees and shrubbery along the corridor from Interstate 26 to the South Main Street intersection.

Improvements at the Bailey Mountain Preserve's Smith Farm property are more than half finished, according to Town Manager Nathan Bennett.
Improvements at the Bailey Mountain Preserve's Smith Farm property are more than half finished, according to Town Manager Nathan Bennett.

The project will start as early as this fall and will come at no cost to the town, Bennett said.

"There will be a 'Welcome to Mars Hill' sign, plant beds, and miscellaneous trees and flowers," Bennett said. "No trees will be planted at any intersections.

The landscape maintenance agreement will see DOT maintain the trees and shrubbery for the first year, and the town will assume maintenance after that.

Board member Stuart Jolley commented that Bennett had been working with DOT to get the project approved for at least five years.

The board also approved updates to its town parking lot to include repairs to potholes, cracks and indentations in the asphalt, as well as putting in a sealant and restriping parking spaces, according to Bennett.

The repairs are estimated to cost roughly $31,300, and funds will be taken from the town's public buildings department budget, according to Bennett.

More: Mars Hill approves Bailey updates Mars Hill approves Bailey Mountain improvements, Main Street gazebo walkway replacement

Smith Farm update

The town manager said improvements at Bailey Mountain Preserve and Park's Smith Farm part of the property are more than half finished, and are scheduled to be completed by June.

The scope of work for the project is to provide Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible hard sidewalks near the Smith Farm part of the property, as well as picnic areas, parking and driveway improvements, and also providing walkways to be used for an amphitheater.

The town's bike and pedestrian plan survey is available by visiting https://publicinput.com/marshillbikepedplan.

Johnny Casey has covered Madison County for The Citizen Times and The News-Record & Sentinel for nearly three years, including earning a first-place award in beat reporting in the 2023 North Carolina Press Association awards. He can be reached at 828-210-6071 or jcasey@citizentimes.com.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Mars Hill seeks input from residents on new bike and pedestrian path