I have seen more work vehicles from the 2 contractors: Rifensomehting & Fred Smith along New Bern Ave a bit more over the last couple weeks so maybe something real is close to happening…
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Which mailing list was this sent to? I thought I’m on them all but clearly not 
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If you want BRT updates, the same that @core2idiot shared, you have to subscribe to MyRaleigh Subscriptions. Do the following:
- Go here: MyRaleigh Subscriptions
- You want to subscribe to this item.
Go through that process and you’ll get the same email as above. 
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Thanks, guys - you found a list I’m not on! Your prize is in the mail 
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I just saw a sign on New Bern saying there will be construction from East to Swain beginning on February 16th (next Monday). Hopefully this is the start of the BRT construction!
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Can confirm. They’ve marked up the sidewalks and everything even past Swain. Looks like they’re starting with the fun underground stuff based on this update from today:
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I just started as a LiDAR Specialist at a local survey firm that is working on the New Bern BRT, and just this week I have already done mobile and aerial LiDAR scans of New Bern Ave between where Edenton splits off and 440.
It’s pretty bizarre to have been following this project for years and now to be working on it.
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There’s actually been a ton of utility work (both underground and aerial poles), along the whole corridor for almost two years now. I’m sure much of that was just extremely-overdue maintenance (no surprise there), but I’d like to think that a good deal of it was also for getting things ready for this.
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Given that the New Bern line is now under construction, I believe that it’s worth mentioning the possible need for bus lane cameras and automated enforcement.
I believe that all of the planned undedicated red lanes within downtown should be monitored via bus cameras. This is because drivers often park in areas that are not dedicated for street parking, which has been a problem in cities like NYC, Boston, and Baltimore with BRT systems. This issue could undermine the promised high frequency transit (10 minutes) these projects are supposed to provide.
NYC’s existing MTA Automated Camera Enforcement (ACE) system:
Maryland’s MTA automated enforcement plans for Baltimore:
Baltimore City plans to install cameras to catch drivers in some bus lanes
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Project Update March 10, 2026
The City’s construction contractor has the right two lanes of New Bern Avenue closed to traffic between East Street and State Street while crews replace the ageing waterline in this section of the project. On-street parking is restricted along this section of the project. Please do not park on either side of New Bern Avenue within the project limits.
A team will start tree clearing next week between East and State Streets. Removing the trees will allow the team to continue with the waterline replacement, as many of the tree roots have grown around the current waterline, and to build the new multi-use path that will run the length of the project.
From https://raleighnc.gov/projects/new-bern-avenue-brt-construction-updates
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This sort of thing is part of the reason why US transit projects are so expensive. Things that are good, and necessary, but not related to transit, get lumped in with the transit project’s budget. Water lines, power lines, drainage improvements, curb/gutter, sidewalks… I believe that stuff like this is not usually included in transit project budgets overseas. Usually this work is already done and the transit project, for example a project to build bus lanes, just has to build the bus lanes - but if something like a water line is needed, it comes from the water line budget, not the transit budget.
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A prime example of that in Raleigh is that the Western BRT line will be paying for the Western Boulevard Extension – car capacity that has been on the drawing boards since the 1970s. (Witness the fact that I-40’s Exit 291 was built in the 1984 to serve Western Boulevard Extension.)
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I had noticed that small piece of Western Boulevard over there and wondered if it was part of a freeway revolt that never got removed, but then I haven’t found satisfying evidence of a successful freeway revolt ever happening in North Carolina (would love to be corrected on this).
I didn’t notice that Western BRT was going to extend Western Boulevard to connect to it. Is there a compelling reason to choose that route over the East Chatham Street route the current 300 uses? I mean you get Fenton and aren’t hemmed in by the railroad but then you lose the soccer park and make it a longer distance.
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I’m wondering if anyone here knows why the proposed North South freeway got shelved? That’s the closest thing I can think of to a highway revolt here, but I frankly don’t know enough about the history there to say whether it was or not. I thought it was due to outcry from the Oakwood neighborhood, but could be wrong.
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@dtraleigh quotes the N&O saying that it was due to public opposition: Oakwood and the North-South Freeway – The Raleigh Connoisseur but there’s not context about what the nature of the opposition is. I have trouble arguing that a backroom deal to spare a neighborhood would constitute a freeway revolt, although I guess in some sense it would be.
I see, I agree this being a ‘backroom deal’ doesn’t pass muster for a revolt.
I think also interesting to contrast the outcomes this with the building of NC147 in Durham. Here, we have a freeway that would harm a white affluent neighborhood. In Durham, a freeway gets built which displaces & harms an already marginalized community. Something of a microcosm for a lot of our political process.
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