Answer Woman: How much upkeep does Asheville's 1929 Beaucatcher Tunnel need?
ASHEVILLE - Today's burning question is about the Beaucatcher Tunnel and how much care the near century old tunnel needs. Have other questions for our staff? Email Executive Editor Karen Chávez at KChavez@citizentimes.com and your question could appear in an upcoming column.
Question: I am a senior citizen and Asheville native who is wondering about the upkeep of the tunnel on Tunnel Road. It's been here as long as I can remember. I know it's been painted and had better lighting installed over these decades, but what is the usual lifespan for such and is the appropriate amount of money for upkeep/replacement being set aside?
Answer: The Beaucatcher Tunnel, which ushers U.S. 70 through Beaucatcher Mountain, from the outskirts of downtown into East Asheville, is nearing a century old. It was completed in 1929 and breathlessly reported on by (then) the Asheville Times in countless articles — charting the tunnel from inception to its cave-ins during construction and several-times-delayed opening.
The Beaucatcher Tunnel, a joint city and Buncombe County project, cost about $400,000, according to reporting from the Asheville Times in August 1929.
In a recent visit to Buncombe County Special Collections, the archives on the lower level of Pack Memorial Library downtown, I spent an afternoon skimming a few decades of coverage. It was interesting to view the tunnel from the vantage point of the '80s, in the wake of the Beaucatcher Cut — the controversial project that blew an 800-foot wide cut in Beaucatcher Mountain, rather than build more tunnels, to make way for Interstate 240.
Asheville Citizen Times columnist Bob Terrell reflected on the tunnel in a Nov. 2, 1980, article, writing that the new pass would bring a "multitude of blessings to Asheville," though "it's a little sad to think we don't have to run the gantlet of the tunnel anymore.
"A whole generation of Ashevilleans grew up driving through Beaucatcher Tunnel to Buck's, Wink's, and Babe Maloy's to spend evenings driving round and round in circles."
The blasting of the tunnel through the granite mountain was a "mammoth accomplishment," Terrell wrote. "Something that had to be done, as the city learned not many years later when Tunnel Road began to boom."
"But at the time, the tunnel was denounced by many citizens as folly and a reckless waste of $394,232.60 of public funds. The Democratic government, which had backed construction of the tunnel, was voted out of office in November of 1928 in a landslide Republican sweep, largely because of the tunnel.
Bob Terrell, Nov. 2, 1980 column in the Asheville Citizen Times
By 1960, traffic in the tunnel became almost "intolerable," he wrote, a far cry from the "wide-eyed" leisurely drives when he was a boy. He contended the tunnel began to feel the strain — painted by exhaust fumes, drivers stuck bumper to bumper in "probing stygian darkness."
The cut, he said, prompted a "great sigh of relief."
The tunnel envelops a N.C. Department of Transportation maintained road. The department didn't wax quite so poetic when I asked about maintenance.
There are currently no replacement projects planned for the tunnel, said NCDOT spokesperson David Uchiyama in a May 1 email.
NCDOT's Buncombe County Maintenance helps clean and sweep the tunnel and remove debris if needed, and Division 13 Bridge Maintenance assists with graffiti removal and repair work, and the division's Traffic Services manages the tunnel lighting.
It is inspected every two years according to National Tunnel Inspection Standards, including identifying defects due to damage or deterioration, Uchiyama said. Maintenance needs are shared with division staff who schedule the repair work. Funding these repairs is included in the division's maintenance budget, and inspection and maintenance of the tunnel ensures it remains in service.
Of recent updates, the Citizen Times reported new LED lights, at a price tag of $216,000, were installed in 2018.
In the '90s, there was quite a bit of reporting on a "makeover" for the tunnel. A Sept. 16, 1996, article billed the project as its "first-ever facelift," one they expected would "make a big impression with tourists."
At the time, the tunnel was "so dingy, dark and dirty," that North Carolina's roads agency said it would take $1.5 million to do it right.
The work included graffiti-removal, cleaning light fixtures and replacing lamps, sealing cracks, installing light-reflecting and graffiti-proof liner and putting 42-inch concrete barriers between pedestrian and vehicles.
The biggest change was replacing "faded, flat, blue-green archways" with gray granite blocks from area quarries, reimagining the tunnel's façade.
The project began in August 1996, the Citizen Times reported, and was completed in October 1997.
More: Answer Man: Tunnel lighting out of whack? Broken glass near Hominy Creek Greenway?
More: Answer Man: Beaucatcher Tunnel to get new lighting? Tourists' players in apartments?
Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on Twitter at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Answer Woman: What's the story behind Asheville's Beaucatcher Tunnel?
