Still makes me scratch my head that we have to plead for our fair share of sidewalks east of the tunnel in light of comments about taxation from Asheville City Council members like Bothwell (scroll down to the comments there).

Email from Chris Pelly of the East Asheville Sidewalk Initiative…

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Dear East Asheville Neighbor,

As a participant in our campaign to increase pedestrian safety, your
efforts have served to raise public awareness about the lack of sidewalks
in East Asheville.

In April more than 100 of you attended the East Asheville Sidewalk Summit.
In May, nearly 250 joined in the Sidewalks for Safety walk on Tunnel Road.
And on August 31st well over 400 East Asheville residents attended the
City Council meeting at Groce Church devoted to pedestrian safety.

And this rising tide of awareness is making a difference. Construction
begun in July is nearly complete on about 900′ of sidewalk along Tunnel
Road between Groce Church and the library.

And while these needed improvements are welcome, much more needs to be
done. We have identified three major arteries needing sidewalks; Tunnel,
New Haw Creek and Swannanoa River Roads, which collectively, need about
seven miles of sidewalk. And, as you may recall, our research has
determined that presently only about 3% of the sidewalks within Asheville
serve the residential neighborhoods on either side of Tunnel Road.

A basic premise of our campaign has been that East Asheville deserves more
equitable distribution of scarce resources. And secondly, that city
leaders need to show a commitment to this but agreeing to a concrete plan
moving forward.

At the August 31st city council meeting, we were reminded council members
were planning an October 8th ‘Capital Improvements Retreat.’ The purpose
being to spend a whole day looking at needs such as ours in East
Asheville. We intend to have a delegation observing at this Friday’s
retreat and will report back on progress made.

Before Asheville City Council’s Friday retreat we need your help with two
items:

1) Please e-mail council members to ask them to remember our sidewalk
needs at this week’s retreat. Tell them in your own words why you think
sidewalks are needed. Council addresses are as follows:

mayorbellamy@gmail.com
newmanasheville@gmail.com
cecil@braveulysses.com
jandavis@main.nc.us
emanheimer@vwlawfirm.com
billrussell@charter.net
gordonsmithasheville@gmail.com

The retreat itself will take place Friday October 8th from 11am to 4pm in
the Hilton hotel in Biltmore Park in South Asheville in Pisgah Room B.

2) Join us this Wednesday at 4:30pm for a public action in support of
sidewalks. We will be hosting a Burma Shave sign event press event (see
attached link below) along the goat trails on Tunnel Rd between Groce
Church and the Sonic at Maple Springs Rd. This will be a quick and fun
event. We’ll meet in the lot caddy corner from Sonic at Tunnel and Maple
Springs at 4:30pm Wednesday October 6th. Parking is available alongside
Maple Springs Rd

Finally, our leadership team is meeting tomorrow, Monday evening, at 7PM
in the East Asheville Community Center next door to the library and Fire
Station on Tunnel Rd. All are welcome.

Thank you,

Chris Pelly,
East Asheville Sidewalk Initiative