I mean, there’s people ‘gunning’ through red lights at full speed all over town…I saw something very similar to this not too long ago at the Wake Forest Rd intersection in front of Wegman’s / TJ’s…Wild. Kids need to know it’s not a video game…
Tough to see who’s at fault here (due to the video starting just before the crash) but both of these cars were going 35mph and someone clearly wasn’t paying attention to signal / traffic laws.
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We also see a cyclist getting hit in this video. Overall this video clearly shows that you can have a 4 lane road, with minimal traffic, and still have it not be a safe road. There is nothing blocking the traffic lights and yet people still don’t pay attention.
Given the video above, I would definitely support the peanut. The description with the peanut talks about reducing vehicle speeds to near 25mph. It also forces people to pay more attention as you are not keeping in a straight or slightly curved line. This is about the same as Hillsborough St. which also utilizes roundabouts. During the peak travel times, traffic within the roundabout is pretty slow. I don’t know what costs are with roundabouts/peanut vs traffic lights, but it could potentially save money in the long term.
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Road design is much better at managing speed and driving behavior than signage every day of the week! Slap all the signs you want on a road, but people take their cues from how the road is designed. Let’s be serious here, Atlantic was built as a commuter artery, not as a walkable neighborhood road at low speeds. Its sole purpose was to move folks from north Raleigh to downtown. I remember it being sold as a quasi limited access corridor for commuters, and initially it largely was that with very few businesses on it.
Even without pedestrian issues, and even if we ignore the incident with the cyclist, these car accidents alone should be enough to get the attention of the city. It should be clear to them that this road can’t be all things to all people at the same time. It can’t function as both a de facto freeway and a safe city street for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians.
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There is nothing about Atlantic that makes sense to me to be a commuter freeway like it is. Capital and Wake Forest/Falls are immediately next to it going to basically the same places, with faster speeds, far more lanes, originating in downtown and containing freeway exits.
I don’t understand why this can’t be made into 1 lane each way like it is when its Wake Forest Rd coming out of downtown, then switch at 440 to be a 2 lane road.
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I know that it doesn’t make sense, but that’s what drove (pun intended) the creation of Atlantic in the first place. Maybe it was an overreaction to the city NOT putting in a N/S freeway as envisioned in the 60s and subsequently killed largely by Oakwood in the early 70s?
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Not to be the NIMBY here, but Atlantic is the one of those three I always use to go to North Raleigh.
If you’re coming from anywhere east of downtown, Wake Forest is blocked by the railroad tracks from Peace to Whitaker Mill and by then you’re already on Atlantic.
Capital is one of the worst driving experiences in the US. Just a crowded, miserable road that’s hard to get on and off. It also bends northeast, away from most of North Raleigh.
The solution honestly would be relatively simple - just have a more seamless way to get on Wake Forest from the east, versus little old Whitaker Mill and its two lights.
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I have an even simpler solution. Do what I do: never go to north Raleigh
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And North Raleigh is all the better for it 
(just kidding)
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I use WF / FoN and Atlantic similarly throughout the week. Same time for travel / slightly different vibes. You HAVE to freaking pay attention on FoN. The video game distractos wreck out quickly before they can reach peak speed…
I’m still baffled that the city did not continue the ‘slower pace approach’ with lane reduction for cars allowing space for bikes lanes and better pedestrian amenities from the Wake Forest Rd adjustments through Mordecai (to Brookside) up Atlantic to the Six Forks intersection.
It’s not hard to see a not-so-distant-but-bear-with-me future where that section follows suit considering the expected boom of additional density around this area. The hard part is pondering why it’s taking so long…
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Driving has really just become way too passive of an activity to continue down this route…everything is so dumbed down and automated, all in the name of convenience and safety, to such an extent that the consequences for not actively driving feel minimized because so many roads are built to handle traffic conditions far beyond what they are signed for and so many cars intervene when it is apparent that the driver isn’t paying attention. As a car and motorcycle enthusiast, it confounds me that so many people choose to wall themselves into having to drive anywhere and everywhere when they do not like cars or driving. The 25 best selling vehicles in America are always the most pathetically boring and sterile cars that would probably make me drive off a cliff due to the misery of having to drive one of those everyday.
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I find driving incredibly boring at best and mildly anxiety-inducing or even aggravating at worst - I felt more freedom to explore without a car in New York than with one here because on a train you can look around and get lost in the journey while driving you have to actively pay attention to the same endless stretch of concrete with brief glimpses around you.
Driving is just a chore that gets in the way of things. To your point, I did enjoy bombing my way to swim practice on a curvy road in a Volkswagen GTI as a teenager, but that’s not the driving most of us do 99.5% of the time.
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I find the anti driving bent on this forum interesting. I know there’s certainly a bias against it that runs in parallel with the desire for walkability, cycling, and public transit. I support all of those things, but honestly I don’t really like using public transit except in a few vacation cities, nor do I like riding a bike, and I don’t expect to walk most places. I certainly do walk in downtown and enjoy walkable areas.
I actually do enjoy driving, and except for a chauffeur, it’s my favorite way to travel short or medium distances. I have a 375 hp sedan that does do some semi-autonomous driving, but usually I just do everything myself because I’m better at it. Climate control, music, personal freedom, whatever… I like all of it. I think it’s akin to grocery shopping. Sure it can be annoying or boring or frustrating on occasion, but I wouldn’t trade it in to have someone do it for me like all the online grocery stuff. I like having control of my part in the process, and getting to have the experience.
I get that this isn’t the norm on here. But I wonder where the general public is on this. I feel like most people don’t like driving places but also don’t see any alternative. And oddly, I do see all the alternatives, but I prefer driving myself.
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Sounds like you’re asking for the long-planned (but never prioritized) Six Forks Road extension. Maybe the need to provide a bypass of the Iron Works area could be the reason that it finally happens.
That said, there already is a pretty “seamless” way to get to Wake Forest Rd from Capital Blvd as you head north. It’s called The Beltline.
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I personally rather dislike driving but I do it quite a lot. I have no desire to have a “nice” or “fun” car, because… why would I invest in something that makes me unhappy? My family’s cars are the absolute epitome of utilitarian (2016 camry, 2012 sienna) - safe, reliable, comfortable, inexpensive. They were bought used, are kept outside, have faded paint, and are covered with dings and scratches by this point. They are tools to be used, and absolutely nothing more.
I look for alternatives to driving whenever it makes sense, which - around here, sadly, is not very often. I used to bike and use transit a lot more but my company closed its RTP office, and my schedule has gotten busier (kids’ activities, etc.) so time is always tight.
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Funnily enough, I’m with you on grocery shopping. I love food and I love having control over the inputs into I’m going to eat. It’s a great analogy.
Plus, much like a train journey for me, I like seeing and being around other people, as annoying as they can occasionally be.
Aaaand we’re way off topic. I’ll stop now.
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I like driving, I hate who I share the road with.
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There’s nothing inherently wrong with personal vehicle travel, however you must realize in America, car ownership and operation are heavily subsidized. Also, consider the daily life of a car: it sits idle most of the time, often requiring parking at both the origin and destination, while the roadways themselves occupy vast amounts of land. We’ve designed so much of America to prioritize the automobile, which is why it’s no surprise that most people prefer and enjoy using it. However, if you visit parts of Europe or Asia, where places were never designed with the car in mind, you might develop a different perspective on transportation. What if this short or medium commute had you never going faster than 5-8 miles an hour, what if you getting stuck at intersections ever 800 feet and what if you could not easily make turns because pedestrians and bikes were running parallel with your direction of travel. I think we would all would love to sit in climate controlled boxes with music and space but if everyone does that, we end up with the America today where almost every activity is designed to make the car priority #1.
It’s like TSA Precheck or priority boarding at the airport, it’s great to have if only a small portion of the passengers at the airport have it, once everyone has it, no longer so great!
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I actually do like driving. I like it so much that I insist on throwing my own gears instead of driving an automatic car. Although I’ve never done it, I’d like to drive the tail of the dragon in the mountains…that sort of driving is my thing. I know that’s going to surprising a lot of people because I pound and pound and pound in the comments all the time about walkability. I am adamant about making places for walking because we have ALWAYS prioritized driving over walking, even in the places that should be prioritized for walking. I have zero interest in taking away everyone’s cars, or eliminating all roads. That’s simply unreasonable at this point. For example, I have no interest in making giant Interstate interchanges walkable, or bulldozing single family suburban neighborhoods. HOWEVER, I will continue to push for Raleigh to expand and mature its walkability and pedestrian infrastructure: starting with its places that are already best positioned for it and expanding from there.
The unfortunate issue that we have with Iron Works is that the opportunity to redevelop something cool was right in the middle of a non-walkable area, and now we see the negative repercussions of not stitching together walkable development to existing walkable areas. It’s the perfect example of the negative aspects of “walkability you drive to”. Ideally, this sort of development would have already been connected to neighborhoods but it basically sits on an “island”, and getting there remains hostile to anyone who wants to get there by means other than a motorized vehicle. So, now the city is being asked to solve the walkability issue here in a corridor that’s been all about the car for decades. While that’s a noble cause, it also diverts resources that Raleigh could be using to improve and invest in places in the city that are already much better positioned for walkability. My suggestion for the city is to place the burden of solving for walking and biking connectedness on developers who want to pursue projects such as this one.
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It’s pretty awesome, but if you’re going to drive that far, VIR is only 1.5hrs north and it’s one of the best tracks in the country. Tail of the Dragon requires “behaved” driving, but still fun.
To each their own, but I wake up early on Friday’s knowing I get to drive my BMW to work. From warming it up to driving a longer route with fun turns, I can’t get enough of it.
But back to RIW, I think the City underestimated the connectivity between these two developments and are currently playing catch up. This was once a very disconnected heavy industrial park, so it’s no surprise zero crosswalks exist. Also I think the lack of parking plays a roll, once you circle the lot several times, you don’t want to drive around again in fear of not finding another space, so people are willing to walk across Atlantic.
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