Residents commuting down Lyman Street and Riverside Drive have most likely noticed some serious changes to the tree line around 12 Bones. Work crews have been busy removing trees from the area, a project that is expected to continue through the fall.

“I’ve been out of office almost 15 years, and I’ve gotten several calls from friends asking me what’s going on,” says former Asheville mayor and tree commission member Leni Sitnick, who says that she was “shocked, not only the number of trees, but the size of the trees being removed” when she drove down to see the work at the corner of Lyman St. and Riverside Drive. “I don’t know whether this tree removal was done for the underground work that’s going to be done, or for the greenway. There has been very little publicity about this.”

For those wondring the same thing, the tree removal is part of the preliminary utility realignment and right of way clearing for the massive River Arts District Transportation Improvement Project, or RADTIP, the city will launch in earnest next spring, according to the city’s online RADTIP Project updates page.

Riverside Drive will be realigned across the Twelve Bones property, which was acquired via eminent domain earlier this year. A traffic circle will replace the current-day blind curves on Lyman Street. In addition, widened bike lanes, sidewalks and a greenway along the eastern edge of the French Broad will be added to facilitate a more efficient traffic pattern and multimodal options for pedestrians and cyclists.

“Tree clearing is occurring along Riverside Drive and Lyman St. in preparation for Duke Energy and other utility relocation,” say city officials with the Riverfront Redevelopment Office in a update sent out by email Friday evening. Trees within a 50 foot radius of Duke’s power lines as well as those considered “dangerous” to utility infrastructure will be removed.

WASH AWAY BLUES: To ensure that the east bank of the French Broad River remains stable during tree removal and construction along Lyman St. and Riverside Dr., Duke Energy work crews will leave the root structures from cut trees and shrubbery in place until new trees can be planted later on in the process. Photo by Max Hunt

“The City’s arborist and Duke’s contractors and arborists have worked closely together to ensure only the necessary trees are removed,” the city’s official announcement continues. “Every effort has been made to save as many trees as possible in this process.” New trees will be replanted at a later stage of construction, which the city estimates will go on from Spring 2017 through 2020.

But Sitnick and other citizens worry that extensive tree removal along the riverbank could exascerbate erosion issues and damage the ecosystem there. “While I understand the need for improvement projects, especially for infrastructure, and while I’m fully in support of greenways, bikeways and byways,” Sitnick says, “the destruction of these old, heavily rooted trees along the riverbank looks to me like an erosion problem waiting to happen.”

Xpress recently took a look at stream bank erosion in Western North Carolina, some of the contributing factors to it and ways to prevent or mitigate damage. [See “Slip, sliding away: WNC creek banks imperiled by erosion,” Aug. 20, 2016, Xpress]

In response to such concerns, city staff say that Duke is not performing any land disturbing activities, and is leaving roots of trees and shrubs that have been cut down in place to stabilize the riverbank until new trees are planted. In the meantime, the city has invited residents to take wood cut from the area for personal use on a first come, first serve basis. Cut wood will be piled at the corner of Lyman St. and Riverside Dr. and available for pick-up by residents.

The Riverfront Redevelopment Office encourages concerned citizens or those with questions to visit www.ashevillenc.gov/river for more information on work schedules and road closures, or to sign up for email updates here. The city is also in the process of working with a local designer to develop construction communication signage and a resource kit for businesses and artists the RAD, and invites RAD stakeholders to attend the River Arts District Artists meeting on Tuesday, September 20 from 4 p.m. until 5 p.m. at Odyssey Ceramics to meet the designer and ask questions.

Despite these outreach efforts, Sitnick and others feel that more could be done to spread the word about what’s being cut down around the RAD, and why. “Not everybody reads the Citizen Times, not everybody goes to a computer,” Sitnick notes. “People ride by and they’re shocked.”

Outside of the tree removal work currently underway, Duke Energy work crews will also be fencing off portions of Riverside Drive and Lyman Street besides the river between now and March 2017 to allow for staging areas for construction efforts. According to the city’s website, lane closures on Lyman Street and Riverside Drive can be expected periodically throughout the process, and parking at city land will be subject to limitations during this time.

Xpress will detail and explore the various aspects of RADTIP and other impending River Arts District infrastructure projects next week in its September 14 issue. We will also be taking a larger look at the city’s tree removal policies and some residents’ calls for stricter oversight in the next couple weeks. Stay tuned for more information.

Read the Riverfront Redevelopment Office’s official email update from Friday, September 9 below: