Even when there is funding and studies are done they don’t do it so I’m very pessimistic on those issues…
The design map for the wake forest rd project is dated 2019 to give an idea and it’s been consistently pushed back for the last 3 years.
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The Atlantic Ave project is really just adding a median/turn lane and a multi-use path, not more travel lanes.
Also, Atlantic is hands down the best way to get from North Raleigh to downtown.
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To add to the good news, the city is canceling a few of their road widening projects, mainly due to funding restrictions. This is based on what they’ve informed CAMPO.
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I know it’s easy to gripe and play arm chair Mayor.
Should we start a petition specifically for Whitaker and Atlantic pedestrian improvements?
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I’ve asked about this twice at the City Council table. I will ask again in January and push a little harder.
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this right here is why i voted for you, thanks for actually listening!
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Let us know how we can assist 
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I know there are “plans” to run a trail on the south side of Crabtree Creek where this terminates. Any thoughts as to why they’re just doing a sidewalk and not a mixed-used path that could connect to that and provide some utility? Does it just come down to right of way?
i mean to be fair, other than you and the other 14,999 people who actually LIVE in Raleigh’s “DOWNTOWN downtown”, the remaining 1.5 million of us in the Raleigh area ALL “Drive to urbanism.” Drive to Iron Works, Fenton, North Hills, Crabtree, Costco, NC State, etc. That’s never going to change, it’s just there will eventually be more than 15k of you all. But the vast majority of us will use our cars. The 1% who don’t may become 2% or 3%, but Raleigh’s car-centric nature was set in stone decades ago if not almost a century ago. It’s our past, present, and even our future, for better or worse.
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Excuse you?
extra characters
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I love it when the chair of the forum’s welcoming committee shows up
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To be fair, Raleigh can develop more walkable nodes within the city. The NC State/Village District is one such node outside of downtown, and North Hills has a substantial number of residents and daily services to also build on its walkable credentials (though Six Forks Rd. itself is a major problem to truly create an inviting walkable community). Iron Works is unfortunately sandwiched between Capital and Atlantic, and both of the commuter corridors impede its ability to emerge as a place where the residents themselves can substantially sustain an emerging walkable community.
Certainly there is path to improving its walkability credentials, but it that would include it gobbling up all the land bounded by the triangle created by Atlantic, Capital, and Hodges. It would also have to navigate dealing with the tracks that run through it (tunnels like NC State?). I’d love to see that eventually happen, but that’s probably decades in the making.
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Seems like this is deja vu
It’s certainly in our past and present. But no reason we can’t strive to make a better future. Yes, the bulk of Raleigh residents will continue to drive for the foreseeable future. But that does not mean we can’t or shouldn’t make improvements and offer alternatives to driving.
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The big reason Iron Works is frustrating from an urbanism standpoint is that it is so close to stuff and people, but not well connected. The Greenway is right there, but no good way to get over to it. From 3 directions atleast you can bike kind of near there then it gets very dangerous. Then as people mentioned there is other stuff just across the street but the street is a pedestrian death trap.
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I think you make a good point and I bet a lot of people would agree with you. The missing point here that I think advocates for downtown and other walkable areas don’t make well is that we’re building “urban-like” areas you can ONLY drive to.
It would be better if people living within a half mile of Iron Works could walk there. It would be better if people living within 1-3 miles could bike there. It would be better if it had a nice frequent transit stop. This is in addition to also catering to drivers with a parking deck. Downtown wouldn’t be where it is today without pulling people from the region and they are spending their money here. But how do they get here? Driving. We all know this but I do think hardcore urbanist advocates can forget this part.
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But you don’t have to drive there (downtown) from most of its edges because there are safe ways to walk and bike, and it’s also served by adequate transit in places. This allows the edges (and beyond) of downtown to dabble in higher density housing that allows more people to have more urban choices.
I am forever indebted to the folks from Oakwood in the early 70s that killed the plans to plow through downtown with a freeway! Look at the problems we are having with IronWorks and it’s just bounded by a stroad!
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also glad Raleigh is one of the few large-ish cities that has no downtown freeway. We dodged a bullet, even if it was from those rascally Oakwood Nimby’s.
I think because so few people actually LIVE downtown, and will be that way for decades to come probably never coming close the the spRAWL-LEIGH suburb populations of Wake County, that forever most of the downtown visitors/purchases/diners/club-goers etc will be those who used a car to get downtown…whether driving or ubering. I just dont think it’s realistic WHATSOEVER to expect those with cars (the vast majority of Wake County) to drive part of the way to some rando bus stop, transfer to a bus, rumble along in said bus for 30 minutes to downtown, disembark and then walk around DT Raleigh. Not when they can drive and park in PLENTIFUL parking everywhere, or just get dropped off.
So the VAST MAJORITY of people in Raleigh will forever be “driving to urbanism.” And then driving back to N. Hills, Cary, Crabtree, RTP, Apex, Garner etc. But that doesn’t mean no planning of transit or whatever. It just means there needs to be less judge-inesss of a vibe that those “driving to urbanism” are somehow not as committed to downtown’s development or participiation there. No need for people living downtown by their choice to give off classist or elite vibes that somehow those living elsewhere are “less than” just because they use a car so much.
I applaud those trailblazers: the 1% living downtown. Don’t hate the 99% rest of us because we “drive to urbanism.” Be glad we do, or there wouldn’t be near as much development downtown as there already is.
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Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think the “urbanism that you drive to” comment was directed at the people that drive to an urban destination. Obviously, in today’s world and the area being what it is, the majority of folks are going to drive to wherever to their destination is, and that’s fine, I personally don’t blame anyone for making that choice (apart from my coworker who lives two blocks from the office and still drives in lmao).
I think the complaint is more at the design of places like RIW that necessitate that you drive to it, even if you are close by. Getting to RIW from the north side in anything but a car is near impossible.
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Agree with this. I live 1.2 miles from RIW and regularly bike much further distances, but biking to RIW involves either (a) taking my life into my hands by using the “bike lanes” on the Atlantic Ave bridge over the train tracks; or (b) biking an extra 2-3 miles through residential neighborhoods, along Crabtree Blvd, and behind the Salvation Army on Capital Blvd in hopes that I can still sneak through the construction fencing on Peden Steel Drive.
I often opt for (b), but not ideal nor particularly safe.
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