State to install traffic light at Merrimon intersection

ASHEVILLE – The state is planning to put a traffic light at the site of a fatal pedestrian accident on Merrimon Avenue, City Councilman Chris Pelly said Tuesday.

Pelly made the announcement at the end of a regular City Council meeting. He said he received a letter from North Carolina Transportation Board member David Brown of Asheville saying the light was planned at the intersection with Coleman Avenue. Yvonne Lewis, 67, of Arden, died there Jan. 8 when she was struck by a car trying to cross Merrimon, a major road that is also U.S. 25.

Residents have called for a light and other measures to increase pedestrian safety in that area. Nearly 50 community members held a rally Jan. 24 calling for attention to what they call a dangerous intersection on a road that has seen intensifying traffic since Harris Teeter and Trader Joe's built stores on Merrimon in 2013. Since the Jan. 8 accident, N.C. DOT installed a high-intensity crosswalk, which includes striping to make it more visible to motorists. Some community members, though, said that step was not enough.

"What we understand it to be is we'll have a traffic light installed there by summer and the DOT is evaluating other places on Merrimon for lights," Pelly said.

Two weeks ago, DOT announced a study of ways to improve streets and sidewalks in the entire city of Asheville. That study, prompted by the city's high rate of traffic accidents involving pedestrians, was to include the Merrimon intersection.

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