Would calling this a “square loop” ramp rather than a conventional cloverleaf allow for a smaller radius?
Absolutely. As long as it connects to some roads at the point, like the Peace interchange
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That radius as sketched looks no tighter then the radius on the current ramp in the NE section.
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Different rules / standards back in the 50s
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Looks like the old Still Life club is being worked on. Guessing it’s just gonna be another club. Can see this work happening from my apartment window lol.
How about on the other end of Glenwood South. I feel like pedestrian infrastructure between Glenwood South and the Warehouse District is somewhat limited due to older sidewalk designs as well as the train tracks. 401H will start to really tie both of those areas together, but the tracks are an obstacle and the bridges across them were built before the recent focus on walkability, meaning that everyone is stuck with narrow sidewalks immediately adjacent to very wide roads. I wonder what the feasibility is of replacing the current crossfit gym with a park that goes over the tracks and bumps up to Glenwood Ave between the existing older buildings (currently occupied by small parking lots). I see a lot of pedestrians walking across the Hillsborough St and Morgan St bridges, but it is obvious that the sidewalks are pretty inadequate for the amount of foot traffic on them, and a parallel route dedicated to walkers would really help bridge the divide between two of the more active parts of downtown. It would also be nice to see the parking deck on West St be redeveloped because it’s ugly and I hardly see any cars parked there anyway.
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We’ve brainstormed on that a little bit as part of the ARTery plan. I think my latest brainstorm was to at the very least cap the land over the tracks between Morgan and Hillsborough to create a little park and bridge the gap.
As far as that parking deck, I think it’s going to be expanded and used as part of 401H
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N&O: Parking, noise and guns. Raleigh leaders debate how to crack down on Glenwood South.
I really appreciate Council member Melton’s perspective on this.
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As someone who’s lived in the neighborhood since before it became what it is today, I think that us who live here have been VERY cooperative and advocates of keeping the neighborhood vibrant. We’ve initiated and participated in discussions about finding a balance among residents’ and businesses needs in the past because we want to live in a vibrant neighborhood. I think that it’s fair to say that the history of the resident participation has been anything but NIMBYism. That said, the balance intended by past cooperation between residents and businesses has gotten way out of whack. On weekend nights, I am regularly awakened past 4AM by people out on Boylan Ave. screaming at each other and by modified cars (as in no mufflers) screeching/racing outside my windows until/past that time as well.
Cars are parked illegally all over the place: blocking driveways, in front of fire hydrants, all the way up to the corners so that coming to an intersection by foot, bike, car is very dangerous. This is especially true given that a lot of the drivers on the road are legally drunk. In fact, several years ago, one of those drunk drivers smashed my legally parked car right in front of my building.
One thing that I’d like to see done is a redesign of the street that eliminates the widened parts where parking isn’t allowed. This would narrow the street to calm the traffic, create more green space, and enhance the pedestrian experience while preventing illegal and often dangerous parking.
I’d also like to see the city adopt some enforceable noise ordinances after hours (2AM) and patrol the area for those who are destroying property, passing out in peoples’ yards, etc. I don’t think that is unreasonable or too much to ask.
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Some of the solutions I found to be most promising are
- Incentivizing Private parking decks - One of the main issues is that people go down Glenwood trying to find parking, and end up parking in the neighboring residential neighborhoods. They suggested signage at each intersection pointing to nearby private decks (like what has been done on Hillsborough Street).
- Increasing fines - David Cox (although I honestly don’t know if true) stated that the fine for a parking violation is $20. This seems drastically too low as that’s basically the cost of parking a lot of people expect when going to an entertainment district on the weekend. I think increasing the fines would be a good start to tackle people parking in inappropriate places.
Where it gets trickier is noise/light enforcement… I believe enforcement can be done relatively easily with bars or late-night stores, and RPD even discussed recent enforcement actions for noise and light violations. Perfectly supportive of increased noise enforcement for any business breaking the current regulations, which I believe the city is completely agreeable to. The harder thing to enforce is the modified vehicle noise (mufflers, speakers). The city relies on sound measuring technology to enforce the noise ordinances which is very hard to do with short-lasting car noise. The only alternative here is increased police presence, constantly using these sound measurement devices from what I understand. I’m not sure how much of the city is, or even if I am, comfortable with constant, dense police presence on Glenwood South.
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Frankly, the racing of the cars is more of an issue, and it’s often paired with the modified cars. Stop the after hours speeding/racing and most the issue is solved.
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And if you park in front of a fire hydrant, $250 fine or tow the car.
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The city could make $250 nearly daily in front of the Paramount. People are always parking there.
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Can say that about The Line too. One guy had double tickets the other day as he overnight parked in front of the hydrant.
God bless you John, I would go mad with all that going down, but it’s part of the city vibe I guess.
I’d like to see a strong parking management system put in place for the entire area; St. Mary’s to Harrington, Peace to Hillsborough. Every space accounted for and even a big X on the spaces in front of those hydrants. Those signs just confuse people I think.
Also, couldn’t the parking decks at Smoky Hollow, over time, just become that “just park here” place for visiting GS?
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There’s already a healthy smattering of weekenders doing just that, the deck has an attendant on Friday and Saturday evenings. There’s plenty of vacant spaces then, so it’s a smart use of the facility. I think that could change as the Hollow tenants open up one by one.
Speaking of that deck, I’ve noticed street parkers going right up to (and once, firmly into) the entrance/exit lanes on both West and Harrington streets. Getting out of there can be pretty harrowing.
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This is precisely what city staff suggested during the work session… to redirect drivers on GS to Smoky Hollow (or other nearby privately owned garages) with big “P” signs at each intersection on Glenwood. The issue is that this could have an unintended consequence of bringing more noise off of Glenwood and onto the side streets (which more people live on - e.g., residents of the Peace Apartments and The Line may begin complaining about noise from all the traffic being routed their way), which is one of the other major concerns the public is voicing which the city is trying to fix. I’m really not sure there’s a good answer, and I lean to (as a GS resident), that noise should be expected living here.
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Just a quick morning thought and question… 
When our city council goes to visit all of these other cities for “inspiration” or “ideas” etc. Wouldn’t you think that we would have already mastered this type of problem already? 
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