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Twice postponed tourism conference needs 'a snow date for the snow date'

Henderson County News

Ask Matt ... about I-26 widening

Q. There is a stretch of interstate highway in Asheville that has large trees planted in the median. Can that be done on the I-26 widening project in Henderson County? Yes. Our highway department friends still allow trees in interstate medians. That stretch of I-240 in Asheville is known as the “Beaucatcher Cut.” The oak trees have survived there for many years. Work on the Cut began in 1977 amid much controversy including a thousand people showing up for a “save the mountain” rally. Two million cubic yards of rock were eventually blasted and hauled out of the Cut.NCDOT offers a “betterment” program, which some cities have used to gussy up the interstate to enhance tourism. The marginal cost of trees is usually funded by local government. I could not get a per foot cost on betterment items as they must be designed and bid but ballpark estimates are available. So if Hendersonville, Fletcher or Henderson County want trees to spring from a concrete barrier section of the Interstate, they need only contact NCDOT.Some readers may remember the 2001 proposal to widen I-26 to six lanes throughout Henderson County. Opponents won a federal lawsuit that blocked the project on the grounds that the NCDOT had not adequately studied the environmental impact. Among other things, the feds didn’t like creating a bottleneck by omitting the expensive South Buncombe section. Well, the project is back — and with a vengeance. Throughout Henderson County’s 13.6 miles of interstate plus another 8.6 miles in Buncombe County grassy medians will be replaced by Jersey barriers. Their four-foot height may vary throughout depending on the superelevation (changing road levels around curves). Glare screens could also adorn the barriers. Admittedly, none of these improvements are pleasing to the eye but trees would soften the blow.But there’s more. Our little four-lane Interstate 26 will swell to eight lanes because it must tie in to the Asheville Connector, the $600 million 7-mile project designed to fix “Malfunction Junction” and the I-40 mess in West Asheville. In short, to eliminate the bottleneck they must “connect the Connector.” That piece of 8-lane interstate widening (project STIP # 4700) begins on I-26 just south of I-40 near the Farmers Market and continues for 8.6 miles to N.C. 280 at the Airport. This section will be packaged with Henderson County’s project (STIP # 4400) to make a 22.2 mile project that will terminate near the Polk County line. I’m officially dubbing our piece “The Terminator.” Any implied movie reference to a cyborg assassin is purely coincidental.For Henderson County’s own 13.6 mile section, the design engineers told me they are looking at three alternatives: a six-lane highway, an eight-lane highway (a trucker’s paradise), or a combination design where eight lanes would narrow down to six probably at the Fletcher-Mountain Home exit at U.S. 25. The estimated price of the 22.2 miles is $264 million. I suspect that widening the bridge over the French Broad River and rebuilding the 79-foot Blue Ridge Parkway bridge over I-26 is a big chunk of the cost. The first public hearings will be held this year with construction to begin in 2020. Hope you like the color orange. Send questions to askmattm@gmail.com.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

25 restaurants participating in 'Food for Thought' benefit

On Tuesday, Jan. 26, more than 25 restaurants, diners, coffee shops and other food businesses in Henderson County will participate in the Henderson County Education Foundation’s first Food for Thought: Dine Out for Education event.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Building costs raise choice of sales tax v. property tax

It would be impossible to avoid a property tax increase to fund more than $100 million in capital projects unless voters OK a quarter-cent local option sales tax, Henderson County officials say.   Read Story »

Fletcher News

Senate, House candidates make their pitch

No one would have predicted that in a political season with no marquis local races several dozen loyal Republicans would brave black ice and freezing temperatures for a cattle call at the Fireside restaurant.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

SCHOOLS CLOSED TUESDAY

Henderson County public schools will be closed Tuesday because of the road conditions, the school system announced Monday. It will be an optional teacher work day.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

CLOSINGS: Pound, dump, library

If you want to read, stay home. Adopt a dog, stay home. Recycle, ditto. All of those are a wait till Monday proposition as the big snowstorm resulted in closing of all those county facilities. Given that the weather is continuing to cause unsafe conditions on roadways, those optional visits can wait, the county said in a news release.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

AVL reports 13-inch record snow

Winter Storm Jonas came in on schedule early Friday and dumped 8 inches of snow or more on the area by sundown. More was expected late Friday night before the first big snow of 2016 marched eastward. The Asheville Regional Airport reported a record 13.4 inches of snow on Friday, breaking the record of 8.8 inches for Jan. 22 set in 1987. The National Weather Service called for a 50 percent  chance of snow through noon Saturday with about a half-inch more accumulation. Winds, which had been light on Friday, will be much heavier today, with gusts as high as 30-35 mph. and higher than that in high elevations, Jeffrey Taylor of the National Weather Service said on Saturday. So far, though, winds had not knocked out power in Henderson County. Duke Energy reported no outages in the county and forecasters said icing was not expected.   Recovery should pick up on Sunday when forecasters say it will be sunny with a high of 41.     Read Story »

Henderson County News

Kiwanis Club honors Glenn Marlow Award winner

Craig Long, who was managing the Mr. Gatti's Pizza in Hendersonville when he first met Henderson County schools superintendent Glenn Marlow, was honored on Thursday with the Glenn C. Marlow Athletic Achievement Award for his 33-year career as a teacher and coach at West Henderson High School.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

GOOD NEWS (SO FAR): Light wind, no ice

Emergency officials have two words of advice as the big snowstorm socked Henderson County: Stay home.   Read Story »

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