ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Asheville City Council has approved a $1 million grant application for a stormwater project in the Burton Street neighborhood. The project will target the end of Buffalo Street, a residential part of the Burton Street neighborhood, but city officials say there will be little impact on local traffic.
What is the Burton Street Neighborhood Stormwater Improvements Project?
The Burton Street Neighborhood Stormwater Improvements Project is a city initiative to improve stormwater drainage infrastructure around Burton Street, the center hub of a historic West Asheville neighborhood.
Problems with drainage in the area were identified at least as far back as September 2018, when the North Carolina Department of Transportation collaborated with the city of Asheville and Burton Street Community Association to create the Burton Street Neighborhood Plan, an overarching framework for improving infrastructure in the area.
At the Asheville City Council Meeting on June 23, 2026, Asheville City Council approved a grant funding application to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Blueprint Project, a state flood mitigation effort.
“This project addresses drainage challenges in the Burton Street neighborhood, investing in infrastructure that better protects residents, improves water quality and strengthens the community’s resilience to future storms,” said Stormwater Division Manager Derek Wainscott in a city press release. “By pursuing this grant funding, we have an opportunity to make meaningful improvements that reduce localized flooding, and build on Asheville’s commitment to a more resilient future.”
What will the Burton Street stormwater project do?
According to Wainscott, the project will focus on “water quantity and water quality” around the northern end of Buffalo Street, a roadway located just past the Burton Street Community Center.
“The goal is a stormwater control measure in some city space at the end of the street. A small collection system along Buffalo to try and eliminate some of the localized flooding in that area,” Wainscott said. “Localized flooding looks like some runoffs going between properties, and we’re trying to collect it, bypass it and take it someplace else.”
The project team will collect and treat the water, which has been running into the nearby Smith Mill Creek, carrying roadway contaminants like car oil with it.
“For instance, if someone changes their oil in their driveway, and they have a spill and then it rains, the goal is to collect that runoff and treat it, and then discharge it in its pre-development condition,” Wainscott said. “Pre-development in this case would be a collection system in a stormwater control measure.”
What will the traffic impact of the Burton Street stormwater project be?
Wainscott said that there would be very little interruption to day-to-day operations for Burton Street neighborhood residents when the stormwater project begins.
“Contractors are really good at maintaining access for the residents,” Wainscott said. “We would impact maybe five or six residential structures, but not much more than that.”