The future is looking brighter for Asheville’s greenways and sidewalks.
After two years of complex civic negotiations, the City of Asheville has finalized and adopted a new comprehensive “Close the GAP ” plan that aims to make walkways safer, more accessible, and better-suited for commuters.
Since the plan is a dense 800 pages long (see the full tome ) we won’t be able to dive into every crevice. But we’ll share the broad strokes, and most importantly, how the new plan will impact our day-to-day experience as pedestrians in Asheville.
Improving accessibility
One major achievement of the Close the GAP plan is that it will ensure any new public rights-of-way are ADA compliant — meaning sidewalks, greenways, crossings, traffic signals + other pathways must (within reason) allow access for individuals with disabilities.
Existing pathways will also be modified to meet ADA standards — an estimated 50% of public sidewalks, 90% of ramps, and 25% of greenways are expected to require such upgrades.
The top ten greenway projects
The plan also lays out criteria that establishes 10 key greenway projects — ones that will help transform Asheville into a more equitable and connected community.
The Swannanoa River Greenway — an 8.7-mile path that would connect Biltmore Village, West Asheville, Oakley, and East Asheville — was ranked as the most important project in the city.
Other top-ranked projects include: the creation of the Beaucatcher Greenway and extensions for the Reed Creek Greenway, French Broad Greenway, and Hominy Creek Greenway.
Want more info? The full list starts at page 120 .
What’s next?
Now that it’s been adopted, the plan will become the go-to document for future city planning. And as far as new greenways go, there are already approximately two-miles worth of new pathways in the pipeline: the Nasty Branch Greenway and additions to the Reed Creek Greenway, the latter which is currently doing a feasibility study .