Abigail Margulis

amargulis@citizen-times.com

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Any Asheville driver knows getting home from downtown holds the potential for a near-crash experience as motorists weave through bumper-to-bumper traffic.

For some the inevitable is unavoidable and police are called to investigate a fender-bender, while emergency responders treat passengers injuries.

At intersections within city limits, seven spots have had 38 or more crashes within a little more than a year's time, according to data from the Asheville Police Department.

Each high-accident intersection connects to Patton Avenue – a major thoroughfare in and out of downtown. The three intersections with the most accidents include: Acton Circle and Smokey Park Highway in West Asheville, New Leicester Highway and Patton Avenue and Regent Park Boulevard and Patton Avenue just west of the Jeff Bowen Bridge.

More than 250 wrecks happened at these intersections, with an average of 45 for each location from Oct. 1, 2015 to Oct. 15, 2016, according to APD. The crashes account for roughly 5 percent of all crashes in Asheville.

In general, most accidents happen at an intersection, said Jeff Moore, traffic engineer for the city.

"That's where the conflict points exist," he said. "There are more chances for a vehicle to come in conflict with other cars. If you look at an intersection, if you're turning right you're only conflicting with one vehicle but if you're turning left you possibly conflict with three vehicles. You have to cross (two) vehicles paths and merge."

Distracted driving, more cars

For Sgt. Scott Pruett, who oversees the police department's traffic unit, no one reason stands out for why collisions happen at the most problematic intersections - but a growing population is a large contributor.

"I strongly believe that our area has outgrown its infrastructure, so whenever you have traffic in congested or tight areas you’re going to have high rates of collisions and crashes," he said.

Asheville’s population has grown by about 6,000 residents from 2010 to 2015 with the most recent tally coming in around 88,000, according to census data. The same trend has occurred in Buncombe County. The county's population stood at just over 253,000 in July 2015, up by 14,000 residents from 2010.

Pruett was recently driving on New Leicester Highway when he noticed a new apartment building under construction. Once those fill, there could potentially be 600 new drivers in the area, he said.

Combine more drivers with other motorists, who are sometimes not paying attention at the wheel, and trouble occurs.

"If people just slow down, pay more attention to their surroundings, turn their phone off, and turn the stereo down, then we can reduce collisions," Pruett said.

Here's a look at intersections seeing the most accidents in Asheville:

Smoky Park Highway and Acton Circle

Accidents: 47

Smoky Park Highway is the main corridor connecting Asheville to western Buncombe County, which has increased in population and continues to grow. Additionally, the area near Acton Circle has many potential hazards..

"The egress there is very limited," Pruett said. "Unless you want to drive all the way to Haywood County, then your last exit is at exit 44 (on Interstate 40), right at Acton Circle."

Within a short distance from I-40, that includes an on-and-off ramp, there are two stoplights and an access road that takes drivers to residential neighborhoods, Home Depot, the Buncombe County Sports Complex and multiple schools.

"It doesn't surprise me that crashes are higher at that intersection," Pruett said. "It’s just the fact that there are so many people thrown into such a small area that come off of I-40. You have 100 yards before there is a red light and another intersection. With the number of lanes there, it is hard to get traffic through given the time of day."

Green lights at traffic signals on Acton Circle can also be about 10-15 seconds long to avoid backup on Smoky Park Highway and the interstate, Pruett said.

"If the red light stays long too long (on Smoky Park Highway) then traffic eventually backs up on the interstate and all the way to Sand Hill Road," he said. "Then people get frustrated and whenever that light turns yellow they run it."

Patton Avenue and Regent Street

Accidents: 46

Just past the Bowen Bridge on Patton Avenue west, Regent Street intersects connecting drivers to restaurants, Sam's Club, and other businesses,causing it to be a densely populated area with shoppers, drivers and businesses.

There is also traffic coming off Interstate 240 onto Patton Avenue west. Drivers often must merge when a traffic signal quickly switches from green to red.

"You have a lot of people who live, work and are visiting there so it is a lot of traffic," said Christina Hallingse, spokeswoman for APD.

Patton Avenue and New Leicester Highway

Accidents: 45

The New Leicester Highway intersection, once named runner-up in TIME Magazine for the nation’s most dangerous intersection, has had six fatal accidents in the course of 10 years dating back to 2004.

About 120 wrecks have been reported at the intersection from 2011-16, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation. Since, 2012, an average of 41 accidents have occurred, with the most, 52, taking place in 2015.

Seventeen injuries or possible injuries have been reported at New Leicester Highway and Patton Avenue from 2014-2016, according to APD.

For each year, most people involved in collisions suffered no injuries. Of 29 collisions, 22 people involved in an accident were uninjured, according to APD data from Jan. 1 to Nov. 28, 2016. No fatal collisions occurred over that period.

DOT says failure to reduce speed resulting in a rear-end collision ranks as the most common type of accident. Of 123 accidents over a five-year period, 41 were rear-end collisions.

The intersection sees 24,000- 45,000 cars a day, according to DOT. During the morning peak hours, the number of drivers turning left onto Patton Avenue from New Leicester Highway exceeds 1,300 vehicles an hour, according to a Road Safety Audit study completed on Jan. 14.

An employee at a business that overlooks the intersection said he constantly hears ambulances and fire trucks.

"Everybody is trying to make a U-turn (on Patton Avenue west at the New Leicester Highway light) but people are trying to turn right (out of the Walgreens and Alans Pawn Shop parking lots), said Ivan Bly, who works near the intersection.

For Mike Hanson, who also works near the intersection, his biggest pet peeve is that drivers fail to read the "yield" sign at the light before making a U-turn.

"When cars try to turn (out of the Walgreens and Alans Pawn Shop parking lots) they have to wait for cars making that U-turn even though they have the green light," he said. "There are wrecks all the time."

Particular issues at the intersection include a lack of clean access as there are driveways near the intersection with left-turns that conflict with cross traffic, including the business formerly known as Katie Check Cashing and Ingles Market, according to a traffic study completed by a Road Safety Audit team in October 2015.

Cars also have to wait through several rounds of traffic cycles while waiting on New Leicester Highway to turn onto Patton, which causes back-up during morning and evening peak hours.

"People get impatient and try to sneak through at the end of the traffic signal and that is a big part of it," said Bruce Emory, chairman of the city's Multimodal Transportation Committee.

Curve collision rates

Officers patrolling the roads focus on education and enforcing traffic laws to help reduce collisions, Pruett said.

The police department participates in the Governor's Highway Safety Program throughout the year. It consists of about six campaigns that can take place at various times throughout the year. The campaigns range from ticketing drivers who are impaired to ticketing drivers who don't obey traffic signs or aren't watching for pedestrians or cyclists.

They also post public service announcements on social media or billboards throughout the city, and go out into the community.

Along roadways, officers will step up patrol in areas people complain about or roadways officers know are problematic.

"History has proven if people know that police are focusing on a certain area or see a lot of police activity on their way to work then they are more apt to adhering to the traffic laws," Pruett said. "Eventually it will reduce the number of crashes there. Often times that is a Band-Aid fix. They will remain low for a period of time and then start to build their way back up."

City, state engineers work to improve roadways

City and N.C. DOT engineers work together to identify problem areas and solutions, Moore said. There is also a pedestrian safety work group, road safety review team and a few other transportation committees that meet several times each month to discuss traffic issues citywide and look for solutions.

Engineers look at intersections to assess what changes can be made, whether that is adding a traffic signal, new sign or adding a turn lane, conducting traffic studies to see if solutions need to be made, and sitting down to discuss it with different agencies to improve problem areas.

At New Leicester Highway and Patton Avenue, for example, DOT plans to have a draft by the end of the year for upcoming intersection improvements, according to Anna Henderson, traffic engineer for the agency's district office in Asheville.

For the intersection of North Louisiana Avenue and Regent Park Boulevard on Patton Avenue, DOT is in the progress of reviewing the road safety audit report that was completed in October 2015 with the city of Asheville to determine if any changes are necessary and if they will be effective, Henderson said.

The Multimodal Transportation Committee, which consists of citizens, city and DOT officials, is one committee working to help improve traffic citywide.

The board's main focus has been on safety on roadways, specifically with pedestrians and cyclists, said Bruce Emory, chairman of the committee.

“We would like to see the safety record improve,” he said. “Asheville ranks among the worst among North Carolina cities for bicycle-pedestrian safety.”

Since the committee’s start in 2013, they have participated in traffic studies and recommended solutions, including adding bus routes to areas within and just outside city limits.

"We want to encourage people to make more trips by transit, bicycles, walking or carpooling," Emory said. "If we can be successful in that it will reduce traffic volumes and traffic itself."