Here’s my two cents (maybe dollars in this case)
Over the last few decades, like it or not - the development of Downtown Raleigh has been handicapped by not having direct interstate access. It just is what it is in this case. Now with that said as @orluz said, that is also a blessing. If that North-South Freeway would have been built that would have had devastating effects on East Raleigh like every other major city where one side of the highway is “good” and one side is “bad”. Not to get too far off topic, I think Charlotte could eliminate there South and East segments of their inner loop and turn it into a Boulevard and Atlanta has a plan to Cap the Connector through Midtown and even parts of Downtown. But anyways back to the subject at hand…
Getting to the North Hills vs Downtown. I think both are necessary to making Raleigh a thriving city. North Hills definitely has a different appeal than Downtown and that’s okay. You want different districts in a city. Also we have to remember, while we all love Downtown here, there are so many ignorant people who think any Downtown is just full of homeless people, crime, traffic, etc. If real estate was the same price everywhere we would still have the majority of people who would prefer their nice suburban, car centered neighborhoods with no transit because they’re afraid of what cities are and quite frankly - just like we believe what cities should be, that’s what they believe cities would be.
I think our main goal should be making the two very distinct districts connected. If you explore aerials from Atlanta, you’ll notice, while miles apart Downtown / Midtown and Buckhead are actually connected and feel like one super long urban corridor while travelling on Peachtree St. Notice the non-stop spine of high rises along Peachtree all the way from Buckhead to Midtown.
Taking a page from that, I think we could create a similar feel and flow of one long urban corridor from Downtown South straddling Saunders St connecting to Downtown, then straddling the West St extension, straddling Atlantic / Wake Forest up to St. Albans where we will have some pretty good density with Midtown Exchange and North Hills. This of course is very ambitious and will take time but it’s needed.
On to connectivity, while the commuter rail line from Garner to West Durham is a start, it doesn’t really move the needle. While it will help rush hour on 40 from the Southeast, I can’t see any other impacts traffic wise. I really think we’re overstating it’s RTP impact due to it’s vastness of how RTP has developed and with many RTPers living in Chapel Hill / West Cary / Apex / Wake Forest / North Raleigh the line does absolutely nothing for them . Last mile connectivity is essential here if there’s any chance of even capturing Garner / Durham commuters to use it. Also, Commuter rail is just that, commuter. Most only operate during the peak weekday hours. So it’s a great start but it’s just the tip of the iceberg! We will need a comprehensive transit plan such as this…
On to connectivity, while I am in no way advocating for a highway through downtown or any of our neighborhoods, we do need to explore enhancing connectivity to downtown to keep up.
Starting with our south approach, until you get to our money shot, S. Saunders is an eyesore coming off I-40. First impressions matter to visitors and ease of access matters to office people just as much. I’m pretty sure this is covered in our master plan and Downtown South will definitely help but at this point we’re already looking at 50,000 vehicles per day on this corridor and developments will cause for oversaturation of even the 6-lane road we have today. Coupled with the traffic signals that’d make Saunders a more desirable and safe corridor with our developments would just lead to a slog. Looking at Wilmington St, we have a pretty unobstructed straight shot from 40 to Downtown with a pretty good view too. Add Downtown facing ramps, Eliminate the signal with City Farm Rd and grade separate and you have a limited access parkway leading straight into our two most important downtown streets.
Then you can turn Saunders into the 4-lane slower speed development filled neighborhood corridor it deserves to be while also eliminating strain and pressure on it and Blount / Person. Here’s a very rough sketch, would need some more advanced ramp braiding etc
On to from the North, currently there are two signals coming down Capital just after 440 and one more a little further down, eliminate those with some grade separations and you have another straight shot into down town solving both of our main access issues without any new highways.
From the West, there’s really nothing you can do about Wade Ave.
From the East, connecting 87 directly to New Bern at the hospital gives Eastern Wake direct access without that weird quirky hitch they have to make now.
Read more about that idea here
Pulling this all together, we can’t think of this as Midtown vs Downtown, Urban vs Suburban or anything. Have to think of this as One Raleigh. And I have to say, Raleigh does sprawl better than any other city I’ve been to honestly. The planning departments actually try to have somewhat of a grid system and connect the subdivisions, minor roads, major roads much more effectively than other cities, where they just branch off whatever road they’re on with one entrance and exit and the minor roads just snake wherever. This sets us up much better. All in all, we are in tons better shape than most cities and hopefully we can continue to densify our urban core while growing out smartly and creating a cohesive downtown / midtown / DTS.