I think that the idea is to eliminate them as at grade crossings. Should they never become separated crossings, I’m supposing that means permanent.
As for Cabarrus, it’s not really an east/west connector because it dies at Salisbury on the west side and Wilmington on the east side. I don’t see its closure as a huge disrupter; the zig zag travel will just need to be made at West to continue along Lenoir instead of at Salisbury, Dawson or McDowell. Besides, West is a better connector because it’s not a one way street like the other three.
As for Hargett, this one is more unfortunate but east/west traffic to the north can be accommodated by Morgan, Hillsborough & Edenton, while the east/west traffic to the south should be directed to (and this is important) a connected West St. under the tracks towards Lenoir.
While we’re at it, let’s get our own Brookyln Bridge as well
It’s the wild “West End” after all!
I’m not very good at being a NIMBY. I’d feel a lot less ick about it if there was a real, it’s definitely going to happen, ped/bike plan to maintain connectivity for the area. I haven’t seen one, but maybe it’s out there somewhere? Right now we’re relying on the pipe dream of the West Street extension when Hargett and Cabarrus close. Will it actually ever happen? 
Not sure but I would guess that if they close South Street permanently, they will still close Lenoir, because that looks like it will be the front entrance for the new Red Hat Amphitheater.
Permanently closed South, temporarily closed Lenoir, I’m sure you can see the problem.
Could be wrong about this though.
The core of downtown is just a 5x5 street grid. Let’s go full Copenhagen and shut the whole thing down to cars. Then bury Lenoir in a tunnel to maintain East-West connectivity.
Um I’m going to Copenhagen in a couple weeks and my understanding is that still very much have cars. Annoyingly, they don’t have normal Uber but I can be exotic and deal with Danish ride sharing apps. Just so long as I don’t have to walk anywhere.
Sorry I think I meant Oslo. But if it means we get more bands like whatever is playing tonight I’ll do my best to sabotage the project. . If anyone is downtown right now this is God awful. And every 15-year-old in the Triangle is singing along in a slightly different key.
Oslo also definitely has cars. With all that oil money sloshing around and a general history of being the rednecks of Scandinavia they actually have a lot of big SUVs.
That said, Oslo’s original grid, the Kvadraturen, has plenty of car free streets. So does Copenhagen - most European cities do that with their central cores, even car centric ones like Stuttgart and Birmingham.
Also Chapell Roan slaps! You are the old man yelling at clouds.
Wait I’m going there too. Lol noooo…
Lol I have a friend who posted she was there with her friend. They had pink cowboy frilly hats on. No idea what band it is, but it seems legit. 
Yeah I walked from Transfer Co. to Publix today and every block was filled with pink this afternoon.
You obviously don’t have daughters! Chapel Roan is the singer/band. My 20 yo stepdaughter and 4 of her friends went. While it’s not my cup of tea I’m glad that we get popular acts in downtown Raleigh that appeal to a variety of people.
Do we really need a larger convention space??
Seems dumb to me.
Leave RedHatAmp where it is, but rebuild it with:
- permanent stage and canopy structure
- real buildings for bathrooms, vending, green room/hospitality
- regrade the site for more pitch back to front
Surprisingly several events and conventions have declined coming here due to the lack of floor space.
So yes, we do.
While that’s not ideal, does that justify all of the issues of moving Red Hat, shutting down streets, etc.? For the residents of Raleigh, does getting a few more conventions benefit us as people in a way that balances out the very real issues we’ll experience by expanding it? Just playing devil’s advocate here.
Yes. It’s justified to have a road closed to create better experiences downtown. This is especially true if they can close a non-through street like South St. This is the same reason why I was okay when Fayetteville St. was closed between the Capitol and Memorial.
While the road may close, I completely expect the city to find ways to keep pedestrian access prioritized.
Those tourist dollars pay for our nice things! Just playing angle’s advocate here. 
If you guys say so… idk, 150,000 square feet seems… large. What kinds of conventions are we missing out on?
https://cloud.threshold360.com/locations/Raleigh-Convention-Center
For a convention center, it is in fact not large: Planning a BIG Event? Here are the Ten Biggest Convention Centers in the United States
Not that I regularly attend events at RCC, but the last one I went to in February/March 2024 I actually felt claustrophobic b/c there were so many people/vendors/exhibits all set up and the whole space was full. I thought it would be a snooze-fest, but I was very wrong.