I would say 1/4 to a 1/3 of usual traffic is downtown when I drive to work in the mornings. The Krispy Kreme on the other hand is creating its own traffic jam every morning, its crazy how much pick up and drive-through business they are doing.
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Glenwood Avenue north of Peace sure seems to be picking up!
Weekends especially are a JOY to bike around downtown. Then you notice there is nowhere to go and everything is closed⌠
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After reading the rest of this thread and now understanding this boxâs intention, I will weigh in with my opinion.
There is no way that Iâd use this box when traveling on a one way street and making a left turn onto either another one way street or a two way street. The only cars than need to be navigated for a left turn from a one way street are those heading in the same direction as you are. I do, however, understand that there are a lot of timid cyclists out there who might feel safer with this configuration, and Iâd rather them use this than ride on the sidewalks. As both a big cyclist and walker, nothing angers me more than bikes on sidewalks when separate and purposeful bike infrastructure is provided adjacent to the sidewalk. In those cases, if you arenât confident enough to ride on good bike infrastructure, then Iâll be that guy that says that you probably shouldnât be on a bike. Having insecurities about being on a bike should not supersede pedestrian access to sidewalks or justify riding on them. And, if one still chooses to ride a bike on a sidewalk, then Iâd ask that they behave as the secondary user of the infrastructure by not ringing a bell at walkers so that they get out of âtheirâ way.
Of course, I am talking about full grown, able bodied adults here, not children.
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It should be in the middle of the cross street because you want to be visible to those cars waiting coming from that direction
For more info in general about the two-stage turn queue boxes: Two-Stage Turn Queue Boxes | National Association of City Transportation Officials
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I think you described the situation perfectly. Nobody âhasâ to use the queue box. If you want to, you can keep merging left and making a direct left. But less confident bikers (estimated 60%+ of recreational cyclists) now have another option that doesnât involve doing that. Itâs a great example of providing bicycle facilities that work for all levels.
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This video provides an in-depth explanation of how to use a bike turn box:
To me they make more sense as part of a protected bike lane system, which of course we do not have in Raleigh, but even without protected lanes a turn box can reduce the cyclistâs sense of exposure to traffic, which I think is very positive.
I count myself among the âEnthused & Confidentâ cyclists, but I still continuously adjust my routes to reduce exposure to auto traffic.
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I used the one today. If it was just me, I would probably get in the left lane and take that left turn. But, I was with my wife and a neighbor who had not been riding for 10 years, and they were much more comfortable with using this. https://twitter.com/JWDemby/status/1256717027814842374?s=20
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Thanks for sharing. I honestly didnât know how these were supposed to work.
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Spotted 3 different vehicular right turn treatments crossing bike lanes on Person/Wake Forest Rd and Blount St.
#1 Blount & Peace:
#2 Blount and Martin Luther King (2 pics):
#3 Wake Forest Rd and Glascock:
First, it would be nice to be consistent. Second, I felt safer where cars turning right were asked to merge into or across the bike lane before the intersection (#1 good and #2 best). Despite the bollards now added, having cars turn across the bike lane at #3 seems the least safe. Regardless, I am happy to have bike lanes and glad the city is trying. In phase 2 of this project, we should advocate for consistent treatments.
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The problem with #3 is that you have a full vehicular lane that becomes a right turn lane while in #1 and #2 a right turn lane develops that cars have to switch lanes to get into. So the situations arenât comparable. Unfortunately there isnât a great way to make #3 work without what they have now.
I havenât ridden that section yet but how visible is that right turn yield sign to drivers at that corner?
At Glascock, there is a sign which says âTurning Vehicles Yield to Pedestriansâ in the grass between the bike lane and the sidewalk - not very visible to drivers turning IMO. There could be better signage between the vehicular turn lane and the bike lane warning of bikes.
Itâs true that #3 has a Right Turn ONLY lane and the other two examples has drivers changing lanes to make a turn but I think the treatment could be the same. Make the driver cross the bike lane before making the turn as in the second picture of example #2.
That seems more consistent.
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Yeah that was my first thought when seeing your photo - that sign is not visible at all to drivers.
The bike lane crossing the car lane prior to the intersection is definitely not an option here. It increases the exposure to bicycles a ton. Anecdotally, there are a ton of cars in the right lane coming up Person Street that wait until the last minute to switch lanes to the left to continue on Wake Forest Road. If they are looking over their left shoulder prior to the intersection, are they going to notice bicycles merging over as well to the right? Thatâs just a fatality waiting to happen.
Maybe thatâs something that can be addressed once Person Street goes to a 2-way and thereâs only one northbound lane but in the meantime, thatâs not possible IMO.
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I wish they had put some of those bollards on the other side of the intersection on #3 to discourage people using the bike lane as a merge lane. Which happens all the time.
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Berlin just updated their bike lanes to make them more visible. 
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Not necessarily downtown, but this multi-use path will be installed over Wade Ave on Blue Ridge Rd.
Iâm also curious why this wouldnât work going down Capital and over Peace St.
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Thatâs a really nice additional amenity around / adjacent to NCMA linking to Reedy Creek greenwayâŚ
Absolutely agree that these sorts of things would be incredible for spanning Capital to link up Seaboard to Devereaux and to link the Brookside / Mordecai area to the Iron District around Dock 1053.
Now, at the pace of these things - itâll be 2030 at the earliest before realized LoL.
Let the studies begin!
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Is sounds like it will make walking and biking in the immediate area more feasible. Iâm not super familiar with the surroundings though â is this connecting this area north of Wade / NCMA to an area that is already walkable / bikable to the south? From the perspective of coming from downtown, as of right now it Hillsborough is not very friendly to bike on, and youâd be looking to get off as soon as possible, so biking on Reedy Creek greenway up to NCMA would still definitely be the way to go. Maybe it makes it easier to get to the NCMA from PNC, Centennial Biomed/Veterinary College, Meredith College?
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Iâm really excited about this. Hoping to be able to bike to Carter-Finley and PNC from my house now. Should be less than 2 miles, though the art museum hills are killer.
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Iâd love to be able to get up there by bike from downtown. And it would make the whole corridor more attractive for densification. I could see development sweeping through N Person pretty quickly if there was easy access to Five Points in addition to DT and Glenwood South.
Iâm also holding out hope that each BRT line ends up with a dual-use path like the one proposed for the East / New Bern line.
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