I would say that neighborhood sidewalk petition projects are generally pretty popular as well in Raleigh
1 Like
Thereās quite a few in progress. You can view current sidewalk projects here. The city also has a Sidewalk Petition Program.
I actually emailed staff last year about getting a multi-use path on Duraleigh, since I see a surprising number of cyclists on the sidewalks (myself included) due to how dangerous the road itself is to ride on. Paul Black, the Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Manager for the city, emailed me back essentially saying that itās in the Street Plan, but still a long way out. He followed that up with this statement:
There are still large parts of the City with no sidewalks at all, and our priority is to address those areas first with an emphasis on making sure we have adequate pedestrian infrastructure to compliment [our] transit system so people can safely get to and from the bus.
I was already aware of this to some extent, but Iāve been keeping a closer eye out for it since then, and, man, they have their work cut out for them. For example, a friend of mine used to live off New Hope Rd near Capital, and Iād go over there once a week for game night. Despite there being bus stops on both sides of the street and a significant apartment presence, they still only have sidewalks on one side:
Imagine that being your bus stop. No sidewalk, not even a landing pad, next to five lanes of traffic. Thereās a lot of transit-dependent folks in that area, too.
So yeah, theyāre working on it, but a lot of the focus right now is in historically underserved parts of the city. Beryl needs it, for sure, but at least traffic moves slower there than it does on some of these other streets.
13 Likes
I mentioned Beryl just as a recent experience but yeah, I agree, there are plenty of areas that need sidewalks more than Beryl.
1 Like
Thanks for the list but how many of those current projects are actually under construction?
Should say it on each project page. I watched them finish the Lake Boone Trail project pretty recently.
What Iām trying to say is: I hear your frustration, but they are working through an insane backlog with limited resources and, in many cases, trying to coordinate with cranky landowners and/or a rather hostile NCDOT. Iām trying to give the City as much credit as I can considering that nearly every single transportation project theyāre working on right now is focused on increasing walking, biking, or transit ridership while limiting vehicular flow through speed limit reductions and road diets. This is radical work for an American city and in direct opposition to what theyāre trying to accomplish on the State level.
I hate riding my bike on Duraleigh. Itās a sucky, dangerous road thatās had at least two cars roll in the past year (that Iāve seen) as well as a road rage incident last week that led to a shooting. I ride on it anyway because I care about the future of this planet and because I want to prove that there are people in this city who want better bike infrastructure. I, like you, get impatient with the process. But the City knows weāre here, and theyāre trying. I really see that theyāre trying despite having everything stacked against them, and Iām super grateful to them for that.
12 Likes
This is a great topic!
I was talking to @dtraleigh about things I would make a big political issue if I ran for office (which I am not doing because I like my sanity) and a platform of City of Oaks and Sidewalks would be pretty amazing!
On the same coin, I do think the city is 100x better than whatever happened from the 50s through the 90s. I guess no one cared about sidewalks AT ALL back then.
There was a really good sidewalk project that completed near me in 2021 connecting Raleigh Bldv between New Bern and MLK which will be great for the BRT and people just getting around.
Would be interesting to see how a push for sidewalks would come up against the money for parks. If we put all our park money into sidewalks we could make a big dent, but people would get grumpy about that.
8 Likes
i lived in north ridge villas(house built early 80s) in the 90s and it was hoa governed and had no sidewalksat allā¦but volant which bordered that area had a sidewalk its entire length and was a city street. a good chunk of falls of the neuse had a rather wide asphalt path along it up that way and was doneā¦70s or 80s-ish, i think. i used it alot. now when i lived in longview with the exception near the longview elementary and maybe the back side of enloe i dont recall many sidewalks at all. but often the streets didnt seem that congested. quail hollow seemed well sidewalked.
Big agree!
I recently had an email exchange with the traffic calming team. This started because I got a notice that the city was adding speed tables in my neighborhood on Sierra drive. Unfortunately Sierra drive is currently designated a collector street, and thus has a design speed that allows people to drive 45 and 50 through a neighborhood. Although Iām grateful for the speed tables, I asked why they werenāt looking at adding pedestrian refuges or other horizontal features that would create complexity for drivers and slow them down. This was the response:
Historically sidewalks and traffic calming were closely tied together, but due to different design constraints, it created a mismatch in deliverables and funding needs. With a tactical traffic calming approach, we can work with 20 or so streets every year with a design/build timeline of around 12-18 months total. This is because we stay between the curb lines and donāt impact any existing utilities, rights-of-way, or stormwater. With sidewalks, many times we need to do right-of-way acquisitions, design stormwater devices to manage the additional impervious surfaces added to streets, and relocate utilities above and below the ground. This led to a long list of approved and funded traffic calming projects that were held up by the longer sidewalk process and funding constraints. Splitting up these two efforts enabled us to become more specialized and more reactive to the specific needs of each street. We as a city are actively auditing the neighborhood sidewalk program to make improvements with the intention of it become more reactive and efficient which would allow us as a city to install more sidewalks on a yearly basis.
But, they did mention this project which is effectively lowering the design speed and adding a sidewalk simultaneously.
12 Likes
I feel the same way about sidewalks that I do about bike share: start from the center (or centers) and move out around it. Prioritize creating continuous connections with each subsequent project and investment to show enhanced experiences and opportunities.
5 Likes
What a great response! I mean, whether you like the actual info or not, the fact a well articulated response was given is refreshing.
6 Likes
Iāve walked much of downtownās network (including immediate neighborhoods) of sidewalks and my observation is that there are way too many places where the sidewalk is overgrown and not passable without ducking, stepping aside, or going out onto the street to get around obstacles.
I snooped around google to see if I could find any ordinance that speaks to keeping trees and bushes pruned so that sidewalks are passable, but I didnāt find anything. Perhaps Iām not looking in the right place? Whatever the case, there needs to be some sort of sidewalk management to make them passable. Heck, if the city can shave concrete slab edges to prevent tripping, they can at least trim (or require trimming) of trees and bushes.
13 Likes
Check out the corner of Chavis and Cabarrus. Overgrown is an understatement. I need to send a picture to the city. Did that one time showing the overgrown area on Chavis and they did come and mow it. I should not have to beg though.
2 Likes
You can download the cities āsee, click, fixā app and report stuff like this with location and pictures. I have used before on occasion for stuff like this.
10 Likes
Raleigh has been very responsive with this actually. Traffic light issues, potholes, whatever
5 Likes
I think you mean Chavis and Lenoir. Those people let their weed trees takeover that sidewalk all the time.
even neat north ridge villasā¦HOA governed, bushes on city street sidewalks had to be trimmed back by adjacent property owners. i remember it being done on volant dr.
Iāll definitely be downloading the app. Iām curious though if itās the city that takes the action to prune, or if it puts pressure on the property owner to do the work.
2 Likes
I am not 100% sure. I know city staff monitors the app and typically comment that they refer it to whatever department. I imagine for overgrown sidewalks that they notify the property owner, but cannot say for sure.
Iāve been reporting the same overgrown properties to the city every summer for about as long as theyāve been using See Click Fix. They do monitor it and take action, but somehow the repeat offenders in downtown arenāt held accountable until someone reports them.
The city does have roving inspectors who will write citations to property owners who are in violation of vegetation guidelines, but they donāt seem to monitor downtown much, if at all. We used to own a vacant lot in a lower income neighborhood full of rentals, and the second the grass seed heads reached whatever the maximum height was, weād get a citation (we quickly learned to get on top of the mowing to avoid this).
Meanwhile in Boylan Heights, the vacant lot next to Hartwell owned by an out of estate property owner regularly grows into a 5-foot tall ticket unless itās reported. Same with the sidewalk on W Hargett in the railroad wye (where I recently took the photo of nightmares).
1 Like
