Several Monday wrecks

Several wrecks cluttered the roads Monday afternoon in North Buncombe. A two-car accident around noon in the eastbound lanes of the future Interstate 26 East near the New Stock Road exit shut down one lane of the highway for some time. A truck involved in the accident landed on its top in the median.

Around 5 pm on Monticello Road, a truck collided with a moped. Terry Malone of the Weaverville Fire Department said the driver of the moped was taken to Mission Hospitals, although there is no update on the patient's condition.

Send in snow pics

The amount of snow in North Buncombe this morning has caught just about everyone by surprise, so be careful if you have to travel. If you have any good snow pictures, send them to wteditor@weavervilletribune.com and we'll get them in the paper.

Skate park still closed

The Woodfin Skate Park remains closed as investigators continue to look for individuals responsible for recent vandalism at the park. The park closed Nov. 2.

Extra notes from Weaverville Town Council

* Cindy Ward of the Weaverville Business Association presented the council with a framed poster of the second annual Art in Autumn festival as a gesture of appreciation for the town's support.

* The town received a plaque from the National Relay for Life committee for raising more than $1,700 during its Relay for Life campaign earlier this year.

* There was some initial dissension among the council members over proposed changes to the town's subdivision codes. The matter, which will be the subject of a public hearing before council discussion Dec. 15, would essentially place decision-making power in the hands of the zoning administrator on small subdivision issues concerning property less than five acres in size. Vice Mayor Dottie Sherrill stated her support of it while Councilman Gene Knoefel liked the idea of the town's planning and zoning board maintaining its ability to authoritatively review the land use plan on all subdivision concerns. More on this at next month's meeting.

More fire evacuation pics

More pictures from the mock fire evacuation at Emerald Ridge in Woodfin recently.

Grass fire

Personnel from the Weaverville Fire Department are currently battling a grass fire near Exit 19 off the future Interstate 26 in Weaverville. It appears to be safely contained.

Traffic moving OK

Traffic around the detour at New Stock Road and the future Interstate 26 West was flowing fairly smoothly this morning around 8:30 am with little stacked traffic. There was a reported accident in the area earlier in the morning, but it appeared to be cleared before 9 am. The detour route along New Stock and Monticello roads in Weaverville is adding approximately 10-15 minutes to morning commutes heading westbound.

The detour will end today at 11 am, but pick back up the following two weekends as crews from the North Carolina Department of Transportation fix the Aiken Road bridge.

McDaris Cove Road brush fire

Personnel from the Reems Creek Fire Department and the Reems Creek Beaverdam Fire Department battled a brush fire across approximately one acre Friday afternoon. Units put out the blaze and secured the scene by 3 pm.

Road closures

The North Carolina Department of Transportation will be closing both north bound lanes of US 19-23 (Future I-26 West) to repair the Aiken Road bridge, which was damaged earlier this year by an accident. The road will be closed on the weekends of Nov. 7-10, 14-17, and 21-23. The road will close on Friday afternoon at 8 pm and will reopen on Monday at 11 am except for the weekend of Nov. 21-23. On that weekend the road will reopen at midnight Sunday night the 23rd. Southbound traffic will not be affected during this closure. This work will all be contingent upon suitable weather. Please refer to: www.ncdot.org/doh/ and pick the road conditions tab for any updates.

Detour route is as follows:

Driving North on US 19/23 (Future I-26 West) traffic will take exit number 21, travel to bottom of ramp and free flow thru signal making a left turn onto SR 1882 (New Stock Road) and continue on New Stock Road to SR1727 (Monticello Road), free flow through this intersection and continue on Monticello road to its intersection with US 25-70. There will be an active traffic signal at this intersection. Turn right on US 25-70 go across bridge over US 19/23 (Future I-26 West) and turn left to on ramp for US 19/23 (Future I-26 West) and resume traveling on US 19/23 (Future I-26 West) at exit 19. All traffic traveling on US 19/23 Business will not be allowed to access New Stock Road. This is necessary to allow all the traffic from US 19/23 (Future I-26 West) to free flow through this intersection.

Huge turnouts

Roughly 71 percent of registered Weaverville voters have cast their ballots as of 12:30 pm Tuesday. Lunchtime lines at Weaverville Town Hall are sparse.

Voting going swiftly

As of 10:30 am, voting lines in North Buncombe, including those at Weaverville Town Hall and Woodland Hills Baptist Church, appear to be moving swiftly. A rush at lunch is expected, however.