Man, that is one fancy Chipotle!
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Agree⌠midtown east seems to have been designed by a traffic engineer (no offense to anyone out there), with ultimate focus on being able to drive in and out easily. Would have been better to turn that cluster of shops 90° and have those store corners face inward. In this case, I think we DO WANT that bubble of land to be an insulated urban node next to a stroad, instead of a suburban strip mall oriented toward the stroad.
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The irony is that itâs NOT easy to drive in and out of it at all!
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Midtown east is a horrible layout. Wegmans in the way back, parking deck, and then the few stores scattered around the front. No continuity, tons of cars, WTF were they thinking when they designed that?
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This looks nice but one of their advantages is that there are restaurants across the street the Chipotle. This makes it more inviting. On the Walnut St. side, it looks more inward facing. The 13th street side is not inviting at all. This is different from Uptown where there is nothing across the street on its 3 sides.
The 3 way stop where incoming traffic doesnât stop is also terrible because no one seems to understand how to handle it. I find the whole experience frustrating but I do like Wegmans and Trader Joeâs
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Advanced traffic management skills are needed.
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It had to be done like that otherwise when the left turn signal was green, traffic would block Wake Forest. Itâs a very typical design usual for malls and large center entrances.
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This makes sense. Still annoying (and hard to exit), but it makes sense. Your traffic management expertise really comes in handy in these parts.
Love me some Wegmans, but this seems to be their preferred layout. And most cities want one so bad that theyâre afraid to push back on them. Itâs super annoying, too, because you have this canyon of parking between the anchor store and the remaining retail.
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Yeah and I get that, but unfortunately 3/4 of the people coming in stop anyways like itâs a 4 way stop. And the people from the other 3 directions half expect them to stop, so it actually becomes more dangerous and less effective. And still backs up onto Wake Forest RdâŚ
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Yea absolutely not saying I like it at all, but itâs what has to be done to not block the road.
I do think a roundabout would be better though.
Also to @colbyjd3 point - Wegmans needs some urban footprint model help from Publix.
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Seems like a light is needed there. I get why itâs there, but when 3/4 of the people donât know how to use it, it creates more problems.
A full traffic light timed with the signal on WF. Or even a blinking light that can go all red in the 3 directions when traffic is coming in from WF.
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I like the roundabout idea floated by @atl_transplant. Of course, Iâm sure many of us remember the disaster that was the two-lane roundabout at Hillsborough and Pullen. Though I wonder if we could make it work now that drivers in this region are more familiar with roundabouts than they were back then.
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Flow would be less and the size is smaller so many of those issues wouldnât present themselves thankfully. And, theyâre so many now too.
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Short answer: No they are not LMAO. I still get stuck behind idiots who straight up come to a complete stop before entering a completely empty roundabout 
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Theyâre waiting just in case a car eventually comes into the rotary. Then theyâll be prepared!
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found the New Englander
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I am developing a theory that really walkable places canât be right next to a road with over 3 lanes total. Most not likely always true, but the bigger roads kill the vibe/anyone wanting the be near them outside of a car. They also cut down connectivity of walking across them so you never really want to do that. The great Wegmans midtown area canât seem to escape Wake Forest Rd. The only chance for walkable might be having lots of development facing/living on Industrial Dr. Which is not the direction anything is headed.
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Certainly Raleigh is proving your theory with its most walkable areas along roadways with fewer lanes. Glenwood South, The Village District, Hillsborough Street, City Market, North Person, etc., all seem to be on fairly narrow roadways. As a resident of one of them, I totally agree that fewer lanes and narrower widths make a huge difference to how I feel about being a pedestrian.
While others may disagree with me, I think that Raleighâs couplet N/S roads are okay, even when a 4th lane appears for a turn lane. Because I only have to look in one direction for traffic, I feel safe as a pedestrian.
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That whole area behind Wegmans is going for 20 story rezoning!
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