After a hearing this week, the final period for the public to weigh in on the Interstate 26 Connector project in Asheville has arrived. The scale of the project , and all the changes it will bring to communities in West Asheville along Interstate's 40, 240, and 26 cannot be understated. Among the many changes would be additional lanes on I-40 between the Smoky Park Highway and Brevard Road exits, as well as on I-240/I-26 in West Asheville. The most expensive part of the project involves building new fly-over bridges that will allow through traffic on I-26 to bypass the Bowen Bridge and Patton Avenue. All the various designs were unveiled this week at a public hearing Tuesday at the Asheville Renaissance Hotel. The public now has until January 4 th to give its feedback according to David Yuchiyama of the North Carolina Department of Transportation. "The footprint is essentially set," he says. "Within that footprint there is certainly room for negotiations, for changes, for adaptations,