August 2020 vs now (focus on DTR proper):
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Also the ~30 mile greenway/beltline loop has been fully open for a while with no detours. There was sentiment here a while back that although our greenway system is impressive, it âalwaysâ seems like important parts are closed. For a long time you couldnât actually do this loop due to various projects but itâs all open now.
I agree with all of the Lassiter Mills discussion. Itâs the worst gap in the system, bar none, and unfortunately the solution wonât make it perfect either. Thatâs too bad considering how long this took.
Iâm thrilled about the bond and the push to add bike infrastructure quickly. Itâll pass with flying colors. So we should make sure weâre getting the absolutely most from taxpayers. If the $200MM bond passes with 75% of the vote, we should see that as a miss because it means there was appetite for more. In my mind, what is the figure that will pass with 55% of the vote? It might be $300MM. Curious how the city decides how much to ask for. The parks bond passed with 75%, meaning we could have sought more there too.
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itâs all open for now, but the walnut creek upgrades will close it for another few years. excited for that regardless because it is night and day with the north raleigh investments
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It has a lot to do with the cityâs capacity to issue bonds while maintaining its credit rating and avoiding a property tax increase. The current amount allows the bonds to be issued and projects funded without increasing property taxes, which is key this year since the County is increasing taxes to try and mitigate the shortfall in education/human services funding from the state.
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I noticed another
incident today that I see often, forgot to mention. State police and other vehicles frequently park on the sidewalks surrounding the State Capitol. I think itâs such a bad look and an easy solution. Thereâs plenty of space for 2 or 3 special-permit parking spaces on the street along Morgan, Wilmington, and Edenton. Just make it happen and keep them off the sidewalk.
Itâs a huge problem (vehicles obstructing bike lanes/sidewalks) in general in DTR.
My top 5 offenders:
- the church parking on S Person St every Sunday morning, which the city bars itself from enforcing because reasons?
- government vehicles at the courthouse on south Salisbury St.
- delivery vehicles and dumpsters on Harrington/West streets
- Government vehicles on the sidewalks at the State Capitol
The sidewalk issue is particularly jarring because it violates ADA laws. These arenât emergency vehicles with their sirens on parked on the sidewalk, itâs maintenance vans. The City has no authority over Capitol Square so this would be an issue to raise with the state (Governorâs Office or NC Department of Administration).
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Itâs because youâre legally allowed to park on streets that say âNo Parkingâ on Sundays if youâre going to church. If the âNo Parkingâ signs werenât there, they wouldnât be allowed to park there.
and in raleigh, it is de facto legal to park in the bike lanes 7 days a week, because no tickets are ever issued.
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They should still not be able to park in bike lanes. Even on sundays.
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Yeah itâs blatant religious-favoritism BS. âRules for thee but not for meeeeâ type BS.
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What if I ride my bike to church on Sunday, can I just leave it parked in the middle of the street?
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bike lanes have to be safely networked. otherwise its âbike lane orderâ and then back to guerrilla cycling mode.
You missed the part at Rothgeb Dr. Itâs âclosedâ although the last time I went by, it was passable. Greenway Alerts | Raleighnc.gov
Each year since 2020, it was always closed in a section that I remember. I will admit there have been great improvements to the greenway that I do like to also keep in mind, but at the same time these improvements have resulted in disconnects in the greenway overall.
For me personally, my commute takes me along Oberlin a bit more with my ebike. The cars that park in the bike lane suck and Iâve had one person who was rolling right into me while I was in the bike lane. The same goes for a bus on Hillsborough St. that passed me only to then roll into the bike lane.
For the detour I mentioned above, Iâd probably just go down White Oak Rd on my non electric gravel bike, however this might not work for less experienced riders. Iâve seen quite a few kids ride bikes on this section of the greenway. Iâm sure a lot of people wouldnât necessarily want them riding on roads.
So overall I still have that sentiment because there hasnât been a year as of late where a greenway section wasnât closed around the loop. It just doesnât affect me as much due to increased riding experience.
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Just responded on this. I also enjoy the cycle tracks and agree Peace should be priority. I agree on the 2 point turn boxes, but will admit that I rarely use the ones I see unless thereâs a lot of traffic and I canât make a left from the street. Theyâre good otherwise.
No Iâve ridden this whole route 3 times in the past 2 months. Itâs not just passable, itâs open. That alert is for ongoing construction adjacent to the open trail. Iâm sure at one point it was actually closed.
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I have also found that the Google Maps layer for bikes isnât always super up to date/misses some key streets. Iâve made numerous contributions to their bike map for the Raleigh area, and while they accepted many suggestions, they denied others (for unknown reasons â the bike lanes are there and you can see them on satellite view!) and have left some unanswered.
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More cycling surveys all across the city.
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In tonightâs public comment session at council, there was pushback on bike lanes. While it gives me no pleasure to share this, I think itâs important for the cycling infrastructure community to know what citizens are saying before council.
The narrative is that by adding bike lanes as part of a traffic calming exercise makes driving more dangerous. Not exactly sure were the cycle track is in Biltmore Hills that the citizen references, and Iâm unable to find it on google maps street view.
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If anyone needs recent and local research to use to combat opposing arguments - from those against bike lanes and safety improvements, here are some good resources from CAMPO:
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Blueprint for Safety Plan (Executive Summary): https://nmcdn.io/e186d21f8c7946a19faed23c3da2f0da/8bfec28a290449a7b10eb1fee3a0e264/files/CAMPO_Executive-Summary_05292025--2-.pdf
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Safety Countermeasure Library (list of roadway designs to improve safety): https://nmcdn.io/e186d21f8c7946a19faed23c3da2f0da/8bfec28a290449a7b10eb1fee3a0e264/files/Countermeasure-Library.pdf
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Safety Data Packet - Wake County (shows data about most vulnerable road users): https://nmcdn.io/e186d21f8c7946a19faed23c3da2f0da/8bfec28a290449a7b10eb1fee3a0e264/files/Wake-County-Summary-Fixed.pdf
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I think that would be the two-way cycle track along the east side of State St from Peterson St to Bunche Dr.
A couple of weeks ago there were a few on Nextdoor complaining about a head on collision in this area and blaming the new bike lanes. Because the road was too narrow and not well marked since they added the bike lanes. At least that was their claim