I generally agree with the suggestions here. Creating/completing a connected grid is the goal. I like connecting Lake Wheeler with West street making that a direct connection to DT proper. Speaking of renaming… What about changing Lake Wheeler inside of 40 to something like Park Street or Parkside Ave?
I wish the interchange could be reconfigured to a standard signalized intersection, but that may be too much to ask for NCDOT…
Martin St had a secondary name of Park Avenue for a time. It’s seen on Sanborn maps. Park something or other adds big city cache for sure. Thanks NYC. I was hoping there was some way to restore the historical name of Rhamkatte. Probably not happening…
I’ve never heard of Rhamkatte. I’ll have to go research that!
I’ll reiterate my thought that a well designed interchange is better from a pedestrian perspective than a standard intersection between six lane roads. Nowhere in the world have I ever walked across a six lane road and found it to be pleasant. Not in Japan, not in New York, not in Korea, not in Stockholm. The bridge for this one is about twice as long as would be strictly optimal (200ft vs 100ft) but as a pedestrian walking along MLK I would definitely prefer to only have to cross paths with drivers turning off of McDowell/Dawson rather than crossing the through lanes too.
In the case of Lake Wheeler, I have gone with a signalized intersection at MLK because it enables the connection with West Street, and because it allows the existing S Saunders underpass to be repurposed as a pedestrian-only gateway between Dix and downtown.
On this map it’s just listed as Ram Cat but it was a union officer making the map on the fly and he apparently went by what he was told as there are other spelling errors on there I have seen. Make sure to open it and zoom in.
Interesting map. Going on a tangent here, but it looks like there was some sort of wall of fence around Raleigh. Wonder if any of those ruins are around anywhere.
Interesting map. Thanks for sharing. Some things that jump out at me are, “Insane Asylum”, names of prominent people & I suppose their property? Names along Hillsborough Street for, I suppose, prominent peoples’ houses? The lay of the and in terms of hills and the way that they are designated.
I agree with you that a well-designed interchange is better than a poorly-designed signalized intersection with regard to pedestrians. I guess my hope was to completely change this area from an area where people pass through to get into/out of downtown into a place where people actually would go with buildings fronting the streets here. That may not be possible anyway, so a well-designed interchange may be the best we can do here.
I think that of all the streets downtown, you will have the hardest time getting anybody to consider a road diet on MLK, Dawson, or McDowell. Replacing the partial clover with a tight diamond would be a good start. When the bridges are showing their age (30 years from now?) perhaps infill development and car-free transportation will have advanced to the point where this can be a part of the conversation. For now, just like Capital @ Peace, it is not worth the effort. Obviously with Kane looking into a 40 story building right next to the Capital Blvd bridge, these bridges do not seem to be an impediment to development in any significant way.
Those are the 1865 civil war fortifications. They were never used or even had guns emplaced on them but there were indeed ruins until very recently. A sign on Wake Forest Rd by the YWCA and Battery Drive both attest to those last pieces that survived. Using known existing landmarks you can approximate most of the layout.
Here’s another link to a map of Rhamkatte. It looks like it’s significantly removed from downtown according to this. Basically, it looks like it flanks both sides of Gorman St. south of Avent Ferry.
It started as Rhamkatte but Cary was easier to say. 
rhamkatte is now lake wheeler rd… the area on the map is just west of the intersection with tryon… my good friend grew up in that area in the 1960’s (mostly black then)… they considered it to be Cary (kay-ree).
Good points and I agree, except honestly I think Dawson and McDowell can be and should be converted to 2 lane one way with separated bike lane, on street parking, or brt; something to break up the highway feel.
I’m typically a half glass full kind of guy, but we need to remember that a rezoning request is a “greater than 20” request, not 40.
Nice! I’ve never seen that one. Best as I can tell, Rhamkatte is a freedman’s community. There are quite a few old houses in the shaded area of this map you provided including some small victorian cottages. There are also quite a few cemeteries back in there (I used to do some cemetery hunting) including one labeled as the Macedonia community cemetery or something along those lines.
With the various proposals to the south (Five Horizons, Kane/NCFC Stadium, Earps Seafood) this interchange area could become really important to connect these new developments to the south with DT proper. The “intersection” of S Saunders and Dawson/McDowell is also a real problem are that needs to be addressed so that DT can connect with the new mixed use areas in a multi-modal fashion.
I like the idea of a large traffic circle with a monument or sculpture of some sort in the center framing a perfect view of the “money shot”.
GIANT BARREL MONSTER!!! 
What’s happening with Earp’s Seafood?
WAJ Management, an apartment manager and developer, bought the property from Nancy Earp Salmon, the daughter of the store’s founder, on Monday for $880,000, according to Wake County property records.
Isn’t “Salmon” just the perfect name for the owner of a seafood store? 
In all seriousness, I think it’s great that the new owners have so much respect for the business and its history in the city. Earp’s is clearly a local landmark, and it would be a shame to lose them. Hopefully if the property is redeveloped Earp’s can get a new location in the building or nearby.
