What we do

The Public Works Department provides essential core services that include construction and maintenance of City streets, sidewalks, and stormwater infrastructure, as well as solid waste management, to Asheville citizens and visitors in a prompt, professional, efficient, and safe manner. The dedicated employees of the Public Works Department strive to provide these services equitably to all neighborhoods in a manner that reflects our emphasis on quality customer service, environmental stewardship, fiscal responsibility, and transparency. The department is led and directed by the Administration division and internally supported by the Fleet Management and Asset Management (GIS) divisions.


Report an Issue

Report an issue through the Asheville App  The Asheville App  or call 828-251-1122.

Division-Specific Issues

Sanitation issues include missed collection for trash or brush, roll cart issues, illegal dumping or littering, and overgrown lots.

Stormwater issues include drainage issues and flooding.

Streets issues include potholes, graffiti, sidewalk hazards, trees in the right-of-way, and snow removal.


City of Asheville Standard Specifications and Details Manual (SSDM)


Sanitation Division

Visit the Sanitation Division page for more information.


Stormwater Division

 

  • Installs and maintains storm drain infrastructure
  • Maintains ditches and trenches to help control the flow of rainwater down public streets
  • Sweeps streets
  • Works with the Development Services Department to issue permits for grading, erosion control, and flood control, as well as stormwater ordinance enforcement

Visit the Stormwater Division page for more information.


Streets Division

  • Installation, maintenance, repair, and revitalization of:
    • Streets
    • Bridges
    • Sidewalks
    • Walls
    • Guardrails
  • Street & sidewalk closures
  • Tree trimming
  • Mowing in the right-of-way
  • Street sweeping in the Central Business District after normal working hours
  • Graffiti removal
  • Snow removal
  • Encroachment Agreements
  • Utility cut permits
  • SnowMapper
  • MapAsheville

Visit the Streets Division page for more information.


National Flood Insurance Program 

To ensure that all Community floodplain properties can receive affordable flood insurance, the Community must comply with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) requirements. One of these requirements is that the Community must adopt and enforce floodplain ordinances pursuant to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) standards. Should the Community fail or neglect to enforce adopted flood ordinances, the community’s enrollment in the NFIP would be revoked resulting in the inability for property owners to get flood insurance or these same polices being dramatically more expensive to property owners.


Flood Assistance Support Team

The Flood Assistance Support Team (FAST) is here to provide focused and personalized support for property/business owners, developers, and designers needing timely and clear information about what can be built or developed in the floodplain.

This is a dedicated, interdepartmental team charged with prioritizing floodplain assistance and serving as the definitive group to help parties whose activities are subject to floodplain requirements. 

Parties needing special assistance to better evaluate their development options will be provided fee-free FAST Sessions. Dedicated time slots for FAST Sessions are offered twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday.  Once registered, the full team will be alerted and in attendance at the meeting. The findings and action steps from these meetings will be documented.

The FAST team will perform outreach to property owners who may have experienced substantial damage from Helene. They will start by reviewing properties that have already submitted permits on hold.

The permits on hold have generally

  1. Sustained substantial damage; or
  2. They are close to the substantial damage threshold.

These permits were placed on hold to provide staff the opportunity to work directly with the contractor and property owners on any up-to-date building value information such as pre-storm appraisals as well as their options for rebuilding.

You can contact the team by email at fast@ashevillenc.gov. More resources are available here.

Related Services

Report a pothole in a city street

Potholes – We’re Working on It! Maintaining the over 400 miles of road within the City of Asheville is a top priority. Currently, there are a number of pending requests for street maintenance, and the City wants to share the process for fulfilling these requests. Our ability to address pothole repair requests has been impacted by Tropical Storm [...]

Related Projects

Old Toll Road Landslide Recovery Project

The Old Toll Road Landslide Recovery Project addresses damage caused by Tropical Storm Helene, which triggered a landslide on Old Toll Road near the intersection with Sunset Drive on September 27, 2024. Public Works crews began repairs in March 2025, installing stormwater infrastructure and rebuilding the road.

PW crews working to repave a road in gashes creek

Gashes Creek Access

Project Overview In September 2024, Tropical Storm Helene caused severe flooding throughout the region. The wash out of Gashes Creek Bridge restricted access to the Gashes Creek neighborhood, Highland Brewing, and the WNC Nature Center, prompting emergency coordination and temporary access planning.  In the long term, this project will restore permanent access to the area. Federal and [...]

Livingston Street Traffic Calming

After hearing community input and gathering speed data, traffic calming is proposed for Livingston Street. This project would add speed cushions about every 300ft between Depot Street and Victoria Road. The speed cushions proposed are the same size as speed humps but would include a space between each cushion for emergency vehicles, pictured below.

Public Works News

mid year momentum

Mid-year momentum: 2025 infrastructure progress + future outlook

Asheville City Council unanimously approved the $256.36 million budget for the fiscal year 2026 at their regular meeting on June 10. The spending plan includes a robust Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) that focuses on storm recovery, parks, transportation, public safety and community infrastructure over the next five years. Projects are selected for funding in [...]

City of Asheville Celebrates National Public Works Week, May 18-24

The City of Asheville proudly celebrates National Public Works Week from May 18-24, 2025, recognizing the extraordinary contributions of public works professionals who keep our community running — especially in the face of challenges like Tropical Storm Helene.

young boy sitting on fire truck

Truck City AVL returns to showcase the vehicles that keep Asheville running – including many vital to storm recovery

Vehicles and heavy equipment used by City of Asheville departments such as police, fire, public works, sanitation, water, parks and recreation, transit, and street services play a vital role in maintaining our city, public safety, parks and community centers, and water and transportation systems. These specialized vehicles and the teams that operate them have been [...]