News

Ask Matt ... about Howard Gap

By Bill Moss, Published: September 16, 2013

Q. I heard that we are getting another roundabout. Where is that one going?

This one will be on Howard Gap Road. The County's first roundabout is now open but tucked away behind the Asheville Airport. It distributes traffic to Ferncliff Park Drive, Old Fanning Bridge Road and Sierra Nevada Way. Construction has been slow on the county's second roundabout. It will replace the 4-way stops where Howard Gap Road and Brookside Camp Road intersect. The project has the Patels very nervous. They run the Corner Pantry at that same intersection. The roundabout will bring circle traffic almost alongside their gas pumps and they worry that customers will no longer have an easy pull off to their store. According to NCDOT District Engineer Steve Cannon, the contractor has until December 2015 to complete the highway work on Howard Gap Road, which includes selected road straightening and bridge replacement. The state invested $18.3 million in the project, which runs from U.S. 64 to Jackson Road in Fletcher. Some may remember that Howard Gap Road was once the only north-south corridor highway until I-26 was built in the late 1960s. Named for militia Capt. Thomas Howard in 1776, the road was first traveled by traders and Indians. For them a stump in the road was their roundabout.

Q. I have noticed several very large signs posted in cornfields around the county that read, "This Farm Grows Corn for Ingles." The signs use the red Ingles trademark logo. Are those signs permitted?
The Henderson County Land Development Code exempts agricultural produce signs that are no larger than 20 square feet in surface area and no taller than 10 feet. The exemption also applies to produce stand signs. Municipalities may enforce different sign regulations.

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Here's a follow-up to a piece that ran in July. Out of curiosity, I checked with my media contact in Hendersonville, Tenn. (pop. 52,349) to see if that town had picked up the "Hooterville" nickname. The answer was a flat no! But I did learn that  some folks in our sister city just up the road from Nashville are pushing for the nickname "Swiftville." The connection? It seems that country music star Taylor Swift attended Hendersonville High School —Tennessee, that is.

Send us your questions about a local issue, event, sighting or anything that is puzzling you. If your question is reasonable, we'll try to get an answer. Email: askmattm@gmail.com.