The City of Asheville is planning to improve Livingston Street and a portion of Depot Street with an approach called Complete Streets.
Asheville City Council adopted a Complete Streets policy in 2002, with the goal of promoting a comprehensive, integrated transportation network to accommodate pedestrians, bicyclist and transit passengers as well as drivers and passengers of cars, motorcycles, buses and trucks.
The goal of the Livingston Street project is to make the street safer and more comfortable for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists and transit users.
The essence of the project is to complete the sidewalks, reduce the travel lane width make it easier to cross. Possible scenarios also include the addition of bike lanes and potentially roundabouts, including where Livingston joins Depot Street.
“We are looking to balance the needs of all users, people walking, people riding their bikes, taking the bus and riding in their cars,” said Barb Mee, City Transportation Planner.
At an initial public meeting in September 2015, attendees were asked to share which multimodal elements were important to them, such as sidewalks, crosswalks, and separated bike lanes. The consultants included that input in a preliminary design that is available for neighborhood residents and everyone to see on the City of Asheville website’s Livingston Complete Streets project page.
See the draft design, give your feedback
City staff are asking for input on this initial draft design. Consultants can make changes based on community feedback.
Public input on the preliminary design will be accepted via email through Nov. 6. Send your feedback to Barb Mee at bmee@ashevillenc.gov.
How the project got started
In March 2014, the City and community worked together on the East of the Riverway Connections transportation network plan, which identified capital improvement opportunities in the East of the Riverway area. That planning recommended improvements to Livingston Street that would make it a complete street.
East of the Riverway planning was funded with a Federal Highway Administration TIGER grant (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery). TIGER grants fund planning for and construction of capital investments in surface transportation infrastructure.
Learn more about Complete Streets
In this video, City Transportation Planner Barb Mee talks about how the Complete Streets approach has worked in several Asheville neighborhoods.