I can report that the deer/rabbit/fox population is thriving in Greystone. They destroy my tiny yard regularly.
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Not to mention that deer in Wake and surrounding counties have been consistently overpopulated for as long as Iāve lived here (15 years+), IIRC.
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Yāall want some ground hogs? Weāve had an explosion of them in my lilā ville, especially since the mangy fox died a couple years back. Those suckers will tear a yard up.
They keep munching on my hastas. Chew them down to a nub.
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It makes more sense when you realize how expensive new buildings are to build, and how risk-averse their lenders are. Jane Jacobsā āDeath and Lifeā has a whole chapter on the need for old (and, since she was writing before preservation laws, cheap rather than exquisitely renovated) buildings: āOld ideas can sometimes use new buildings. New ideas must use old buildings.ā
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I finally got an update on the Six Forks Rd. Widening project, I almost peed myself with laughter on the last paragraph and especially the last sentence. This is one of the city staff saying had the infrastructure spending stayed up to par with all the other spending this wouldnāt have happened.
"We all recognize that the project, as currently designed, lacks sufficient funding to complete the full scope of the project. Staff and the consultant team are evaluating options to phase the project to match the available budget and/or to reduce the scope of the project to fit within the available budget. For all transparency, options MAY include scenarios where there is no widening, but there has been no decision on that aspect of the project.
*We believe this work to study options will be nearing completion around the end of September. At that time, weāll share the options with City Council to make them aware of whatās possible within the available funding, and then start of process of engagement with stakeholders, including BPAC and community organizations in the Midtown area, and with the community. Weāll report back to Council after that engagement and get direction on how to proceed. We want to move this process deliberately but expeditiously to hopefully resolve some issues for those impacted by any potential acquisition." *
From my point of view - Everyone should be aware that this project has been in the works for about 12 years. It was a main point of discussion in the expansion of North Hills and was included in the Midtown Area plan to improve infrastructure in the Midtown area, with the idea that road improvements were needed to keep up with development along Six Forks, Saint Albans and Wake Forest road. Please do not let this project move forward without road widening to fix the narrow inconsistent lane widths and current bottlenecks on Six Forks road. If infrastructure spending had stayed current with development, the exorbitant costs, especially in land value, could have been avoided."
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I bet weāll get the extra lane. But weāll loose the bike lane / multi-use path and trees and Blvd design.
If this goes to city council, I actually feel confident that the bike infra will stay.
Just one more lane broā¦
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Not to be an auto proponent here, but as someone who drives that stretch literally everydayā¦ I donāt see any other alternatives being put out there by the City to deal with the bottleneck that is North Hills to Millbrook (or even Lynn) A BRT line from Iron Works via North Hills up to the Forum and (hopefully soon to be totally redeveloped) Six Forks/Strickland stripmall hell area would be nice, but by the time is built in 2045, Iāll be handing over my car keys.
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I get that sentiment, but in this scenario itās badly needed. Especially Rowan to Lynn road.
I think the broader aspect to take from this has to be the incompetence. We are 12 years into planning, discussing, and surveys to reach this point? Itās 1.5 miles of roadway in the second largest business district outside of downtown all the way to Greensboro, and you canāt figure out the funding after 12 years, then act shocked once the reevaluation comes back overbudget. But somehow, we discover millions to purchase projects with no development potential in a near forecast.
Has the city considered that in order to redesign and reengineer the roadway, that will also cost millions of tax money? This crap makes me want to pull my hair out.
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Wait, I thought new devs on the scale of NHills created tax revenue to offset infrastructure needs from their projected growthā¦ [sarcasm font]
In all seriousness, hard agree on this one - what a miserable boondoggle weāve backed ourselves into with the northbound stroad arteries. Brightside : theyāre not freeways, but damnā¦
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I donāt buy it. According to Google maps, traffic still moves between 3-8 minutes through that stretch. Iām sure the lights are a cause of added time. The biggest āred portionā is at the intersection of Millbrook and Six Forks rd. If you really wanted to clear out the congestion, then the fix would be to remove this intersection/light (which isnāt a good request either). More lanes is not the answer. People are just too used to travelling 40+ mph on this Rd and get upset when they canāt.
Wake Forest Rd. also has 3 lanes each direction plus a turn lane and it also takes 3-8 minutes to go from 440 to Millbrook (about 1.9 miles). I do not want Six Forks Rd to become another Wake Forest Rd.
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It definitely seems like itās the timing on the lights paired with the volume of cars. I drive that stretch every day and 8:00a is hell but 7:50 is a breeze
That would really loss me off
Remember that North Hillsā approvals hinge on the Level of Service (i.e., traffic levels) on Six Forks Road. Less traffic = bigger buildings. Given that, Iām surprised that theyāre resisting a pedestrian grade separation; if that results in fewer cars, that would seem to pave the way (no pun intended) to having larger buildings.
From what I heard the cost went up big time and they were also having to acquire extra ROW from properties along SF. $$! In other news, Pleasant Valley Promenade is in redevelopment ASR-0024-2023 with apartments along Pleasant Valley and demo of building that houses starbucks. This area needed something. Should be interesting.
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One of the FC buildings (the one furthest north on 6-forks) is in the process of getting torn down. Anyone know if and what is going to go on that lot?
Saw this floating around on LinkedIn today. This thing is really starting to take shape.
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