Written by John Boyle, Asheville Watchdog.
A new round of questions, smart-aleck replies, and the real answers with Asheville Watchdog’s John Boyle.
Question: Recently I saw where WLOS is moving their over-the-air broadcasting tower from Mount Pisgah to Pinnacle Mountain. Since the current WLOS tower and tram on Mount Pisgah are on National Forest land, what kind of remedial work will they be doing to the Mount Pisgah site to restore it to a natural state?
My answer: I think it’s time for the giant crystal beneath Mount Pisgah, which has acted like a magnet for the New Age mystical crowd for decades now, to take center stage. Sure, it’s no giant steel tower, but it has its own appeal.
Real answer: First of all, a clarification.
“WLOS is not actually moving the tower, but they have reported plans to move their broadcast location,” Jenifer Bunty, Public Affairs Specialist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service and a spokesperson for national forests in North Carolina, said via email. “The tower operates under a communications site lease with the U.S. Forest Service and will remain in operation. Other groups/stations use the site and will continue there.”
Bunty noted that WLOS would be the best source of information on the plans, and I agreed. But I did not hear back from General Manager Courtney Youngblood by deadline after multiple messages. I also reached out to WLOS-News 13’s parent company, Sinclair Broadcasting, but didn’t hear back from them, either.
WLOS posted a news story about the tower May 29. I can see where my reader got confused, as it was headlined, “Making big moves: After decades on Mt. Pisgah, WLOS tower moving to Pinnacle Mountain.”
The article notes the TV station is moving its “transmitter site from Mount Pisgah to Pinnacle Mountain” in Henderson County. The move affects only the station’s over-the-air signal.
“Our Pinnacle Mountain location provides state-of-the-art equipment and, most importantly, safe access for our team of engineers all year round,” the WLOS story said. “Our new site gives us the ability to broadcast in NextGen TV, providing our viewers the improved audio and video experience of next-generation broadcasting.”
WLOS noted, “Viewers who receive WLOS via an antenna may need to rescan their TV.”
Mount Pisgah, which is accessible off the Blue Ridge Parkway, sits on the border of Buncombe and Haywood counties, at an elevation of 5,721 feet. A popular hiking trail goes to the mountain’s peak, where the large antenna has become a local landmark since its installation in 1954.
Another fun fact: WLOS operated a funicular, a sort of tram, to the top of the mountain to maintain the tower and equipment for decades — without a permit. The Citizen Times wrote about it in 2016, noting, “NC Labor Department officials say the cable car system owned by Sinclair Broadcasting Group, parent company of WLOS News 13, has been operating without authorization for the entirety of its existence.”
That was a long outlaw run! In 2015, the paper reported, N.C. Department of Labor officials found it unsafe during an inspection and ordered WLOS and Sinclair to shut it down.
From the WLOS news story about the new transmitter site on Pinnacle Mountain, it looks like technicians can drive up there. That’s got to be a lot more comfortable than the tram.
Question: Two months ago, the NCDOT built a crosswalk at the intersection of Patton Avenue and Haywood Road in West Asheville. The crosswalk signs have remained covered. The people who live across Patton have been waiting, in some cases, decades for this crosswalk. So I guess it’s no surprise that we’re still having to wait. Is there any word on when they’ll activate the crosswalks?
My answer: If I tell you it’ll be activated once the I-26 Connector is finished, would that make your head explode? I suspect I know the answer to that.
Real answer: The good news is this project has nothing to do with the Connector — and it’s working now.
NCDOT spokesperson David Uchiyama said via email that the signal was activated on the morning of July 15, and the agency’s signals staff will inspect it on July 16.
The project involved the installation of pedestrian signals, crosswalks, and concrete curb ramps at the aforementioned intersection. The NCDOT awarded the contract for the project last year in the amount of $131,531, according to the NCDOT web page on the project.
This is a busy stretch of road that carries 28,000 vehicles a day on Patton Avenue and 9,100 on Haywood Road, according to NCDOT traffic counts from 2022.
When our photographer stopped by there on July 15 to take photos, she reported the signs and signal activation buttons all seem to be working. So that sounds like extra good news for this reader.
Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Got a question? Send it to John Boyle at [email protected] or 828-337-0941. His Answer Man columns appear each Tuesday and Friday. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/donate.