ASHEVILLE – City Council members are calling on the N.C. Department of Transportation to reduce the speed limit planned for Patton Avenue as part of the I-26 Connector project — dropping it to 25 mph — necessary, staff say, to transform the corridor from a congested interstate to a “western gateway” for the city.
Asheville City Council unanimously passed a resolution Jan. 23 requesting NCDOT, the Federal Highway Administration and the future design-build team for the department’s $1.3 billion I-26 Connector project reduce the design speed for Patton Avenue as it enters downtown, once the project is completed.
The request concerns a section of Patton Avenue from its intersection with the Hillcrest Connector to Clingman Avenue — dropping the planned posted speed limit from 35 mph to 25 mph.
Assistant City Manager Ben Woody told council it will allow for that key section of corridor to be “more compact and more urban in nature,” consistent with the city’s previously adopted plans and the ongoing Patton Avenue corridor and feasibility study, kicked off in November.