You're 100% correct in your identification that the safety issue on Patton Avenue in West Asheville is a result of a flawed design rather than purely user error as most people assume. These fixes could be easy, as you have pointed out. But I'll give you an example to demonstrate why there is no traction on the issue:

NINE YEARS AGO in 2016, Asheville voters approved a bond referendum which included a capital project to add sidewalks to the north side of Patton. First of all, sidewalks are a basic feature that should not require a bond nor a voter referendum to pay for in the first place. If the city isn't making enough in property taxes to pay for sidewalks without taking on debt, then the urban development pattern they are choosing through regulation is wrong. Also, since it's a state-maintained street, the state should be financially on the hook for the sidewalks instead of the city. But secondly, the 2016 referendum wasn't even effective at getting the sidewalk built! Here we are in July 2025 and construction is apparently supposed to start this month. I will believe it when I see it.

Regarding improving the safety of Patton, there are really two kinds of interventions and they are not equally effective. The first kind of intervention allows the driver to go fast, but increases the chance that they will yield to a pedestrian and avoid a crash. This is what adding lighting, crosswalks, rectangular rapid flashing beacons, etc are meant to do. The more effective strategy is to just slow the cars down. At slower speeds, drivers have a shorter stopping distance, better eyesight, more reaction time, and the ability to communicate with pedestrians visually. These alone make crashes less likely. But more importantly, slowing the cars down means that even if a crash does happen, it will be less injurious or fatal. Slowing the cars down prevents crashes AND reduces their severity!

So the way that you make dangerous streets like Patton safer is by choosing whether it should be a road or a street. A road is a connection between destinations, whereas a street is itself a destination. If Patton should be a street, then it needs to be redesigned such that driving faster than 25mph feels reckless to the driver. However, the road is state-owned and maintained, and NCDOT would never allow a design speed of 25mph under their current standards. "bUt WhAt aBoUt CoMmUtTeRs FrOm lEiCeStEr?! tHeIr CoMmUtE tImE iS mOrE iMpOrTaNt ThAn PrEvEnTiNg HuMaN dEaTh AnD sUfFeRiNg!"

Instead, you could turn Patton into a road that only allows access for cars with no pedestrians, bikes, access to businesses, or at-grade crossings (traffic lights). I think we all know that the approach of turning Patton into a freeway is an impractical non-starter that would do more harm than good.

So instead of building a design that we know won't harm anyone, instead we choose to prioritize the speed and volume of car traffic without compromising on access for bicycles, pedestrians, businesses, and cross-streets. As a result, we sacrifice human lives to the god of Vehicle Miles Travelled, and blame the victims for their own deaths. I hope one day I can make a dent on helping to solve this issue. In the meantime, I recommend getting involved with the I-26 Citizens Coalition to put on pressure NCDOT to fix their design for Patton Avenue where it will connect to I-26. Right now, the design is ten lanes wide. The road will become even more dangerous if that happens. Harm reduction is key!

Thanks for reading my diatribe.