Asheville schedules Emma Road resurfacing after storm damage, potholes
Emma Road is finally on Asheville’s FY26 resurfacing list, with crews expected to start in early August and finish late this year.
Drivers on Emma Road in west Asheville were given a concrete repair timeline: the city said the street is on its fiscal year 2026 asphalt resurfacing schedule, with contractor work expected to begin in early August and run through late in the calendar year.
The worst stretch has been the rough pavement near the railroad trestle, where residents have complained about potholes, crumbling asphalt and storm damage that worsened after Tropical Storm Helene. Emma Road has also already seen traffic changes, including the all-way stop installed at Emma Road and Bingham Road in July 2024 by the North Carolina Department of Transportation and Asheville staff.
Responsibility for the road is split. Asheville crews maintain Emma Road from Craven Street to the second overhead railroad crossing at Smith Mill Creek, while N.C. Department of Transportation maintains the rest. That division matters because the resurfacing work will require coordination as the repair zone changes from city pavement to state-maintained roadway.
City staff member Kim Miller said Emma Road is on the resurfacing schedule, which is part of Asheville’s $10 million road resurfacing program tied to the city’s 2024 transportation bond. The city’s current projects page lists Emma Road among the streets funded through that program. Asheville voters approved four general obligation bond referendums totaling $80 million in November 2024, including $20 million for transportation projects.
Emma Road’s backlog reflects a larger local recovery picture. Buncombe County says Tropical Storm Helene caused flooding, landslides and damage across the county in September 2024, and the county and its six municipal partners built a 114-project Helene Recovery Plan. For west Asheville, Emma Road is more than a cut-through: it serves homes, businesses and the railroad corridor, making the resurfacing schedule especially important for daily commutes and deliveries.
City street services include pothole repair, curb and gutter replacement, right-of-way cut repairs, sidewalk resurfacing and emergency street service, and Asheville keeps an official inventory of streets it has accepted for maintenance. Residents can also check the city’s closures map for near real-time road work updates and use the Asheville App to report potholes, sidewalk hazards and accessibility issues if the corridor deteriorates before the contractor arrives.
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