Is your Asheville street a candidate for slower speeds? Here's how to find out
ASHEVILLE - Speeding traffic is often decried in residential neighborhoods and along Asheville's winding roads, and with changes approved by City Council May 23 in response to community concerns, a few Asheville streets must move a little slower.
The roads facing speed limit changes range from residential roads, not-so-sleepy side streets and sections of the River Arts District.
According to a May 23 news release, the changes support city goals for transportation and accessibility, and were the result of resident requests.
The new speed limits 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.
Related: Asheville slows speed limits on residential city streets: Which neighborhoods are next?
Where are the newest speed limit changes?
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 - establish 25 mph
Clingman Avenue/Haywood Road from Patton Avenue to Riverview Drive - establish 25 mph
Sand Hill Road from Haywood Road to Wendover Road - establish 30 mph
Meadow Road from Amboy Road to Victoria Road - establish 35 mph
Clingman Avenue, Haywood Road and Sand Hill Road are state-maintained streets, and N.C. Department of Transportation will install the new signs. The rest are city streets.
The statutory speed limit within the city of Asheville, unless otherwise posted, is 35 mph.
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How can you address a speeding problem in your neighborhood?
According to the city release, 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 and can be found at ashevillenc.gov/department/transportation/traffic-engineering/.
After sending this to the city, the Transportation Department works 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.
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What determines if your street is a candidate for traffic calming?
The traffic engineering study must show:
That 15% or more of vehicles are traveling more than 5 mph 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 the designation of funding for implementing changes, said the release. Once street calming Is determined "justified" by the city, the street will be considered a candidate for an upcoming traffic calming project.
Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on Twitter at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville City Council OKs several speed limit changes on area streets
