North Asheville residents voiced safety concerns before pedestrian fatality

Neighborhood activists who live near the scene of a fatal pedestrian accident on Merrimon Avenue had been lobbying city and state traffic engineers for months for safety improvements at the site.

Members of the Five Points Neighborhood Association had asked engineers with the City of Asheville and N.C. Department of Transportation to install a traffic light on heavily-traveled Merrimon at the Coleman Avenue intersection to provide a safe crossing for pedestrians, said Tina Kessinger, a member of the association's Merrimon Improvement Committee.

"I was just sick when I realized someone had been killed," said Kessinger, who lives on Coleman Avenue near the juncture with Merrimon. "I hope they'll do something about it now. It was only a matter of time before somebody got killed."

Yvonne Lewis, 67, of Arden, died after being struck by a car on Merrimon near the Coleman intersection Thursday morning.

Richard Charlton, 39, of Asheville, was driving south on Merrimon when his 2005 Audi struck Lewis in the southbound lanes as she was attempting to cross the road, Asheville police Sgt. Dave Romick said. Lewis was transported to Mission Hospital where she died of her injuries.



The Coleman intersection has a crosswalk, but the lines were erased several weeks ago during road construction, Kessinger said. But even with a well-marked crosswalk, without a traffic signal to stop traffic the intersection is unsafe for pedestrians, she said.

Crosswalk lines will be replaced with a high-intensity crosswalk, which means additional striping to make it more visible to motorists, said Doug McNeal, division operations engineer with DOT.

"We're certainly going to take a look at the intersection to see if there are other measures we can take," he said.

Kessinger said a stoplight is the solution.

"They put up pedestrian crossing signs, but nobody pays a bit of attention to them," she said.

McNeal said traffic volume at the intersection did not warrant a traffic signal.

"One of the primary drivers of a traffic signal is the traffic on the side streets that are trying to enter onto the main road. On Coleman it's about a quarter of the volume that we would like to see," he said.

Kessinger said traffic has increased dramatically since Harris Teeter and Trader Joe's built stores on Merrimon in 2013, making the already busy road even more hazardous for pedestrians.

"Since Harris Teeter and Trader Joe's have come in, the traffic has really increased," Kessinger said. "You take your life in your hands. Four lanes of speeding traffic — it's just gotten crazy."

The nearest traffic lights on Merrimon on either side of Coleman are at W.T. Weaver Boulevard to the north and Hillside Street to the south, Kessinger said. City bus stops on each side of Merrimon at Coleman make the Coleman intersection a natural place for people on foot to cross.

"There's a long stretch without a stoplight, where drivers build up speed," she said. "I see people with children trying to cross. It's been a very dangerous situation for awhile."

No charges have been filed in Thursday's accident, but the investigation is ongoing, Romick said. APD's traffic safety unit will present its findings to the District Attorney's office for review.

Anyone who witnessed the accident should contact senior officer Meg Pigman at 828-251-4085 or email mpigman@ashevillenc.gov.

