I hadn’t heard any of this from Five Points or Mordecai??? That would be wild.
I mean, its like a greenway connection to North Hills over the beltline, sure there’s other ways to get around across the void, but the connection is actually huge and also the visual perception is huge.
I think it is one piece of a larger set of non-car connections all around capital that is what would transform this part of the city.
Ideally you do it here and then figure out the greater atlantic/brookside/whitaker mill/Iron Works/Gateway plaza connections as well that solves the Capital blvd problem
I also think there would be plenty of demand for bikes especially with as many kids and teens live in these areas. And this area remains an under the radar rapidly densifying part of town. You could be looking at a radically different commercial, residential and lifestyle (parks) experience on the Five points side of capital blvd from Peace St to Atlantic in 5-10 years.
It feels like there would be a similar reaction to the Bickett area commercial revitalization with Trophy / Ajja over the past couple of years. While residents likely enjoy the access to those businesses, they also gripe / grumble incessantly about the parking realities / increased humanity (traffic) of ‘others’ from outside the neighborhood altering the rhythms / norms of their slice of life…
I’m all for better connectivity as a core civic benefit. Maybe we need a ‘bridge’ bond for the next election - lump in the North Hills across Six Forks, Big Branch across 440 and Fairview to Seaboard bike / pedi projects and let’s vote 'em into funding!
If and when it becomes real, you’ll almost assuredly hear from some of them.
Have you heard all the resistance coming from a few loud homeowners on Anderson Dr. because of the city is extending/connecting the greenway behind their houses in land that the city has always held in easement along Big Branch Creek? People often don’t like change, even when it ends up improving their lives.
I think the main issue is the fact that large standalone bike/ped projects are nearly impossible to fund. This is due to the Strategic Transportation Investment (STI) Law, passed in 2013/2014, which prevents the use of funds to go towards standalone bike/ped and transit projects.
Just seems dumb to me to manufacturer some fake resistance ahead of time for a completely different situation. Like why even introduce negativity that then becomes the narrative.
This might be better suited for another thread, but it’s somewhat related to the pedestrian bridge discussion over Capital Blvd and general connectivity in that area. Does anyone know what’s going on along the west side of Capital?
I’ve noticed a decent amount of work stretching past the R&D Brewing taproom. Could just be utility or sidewalk improvements, but I’m curious if anyone knows what’s actually going on there.
Resistance to change isn’t fake, and that’s especially true when dealing with single family homeowners/neighborhoods. It’s better to be aware and plan for it so that a plan doesn’t get throttled deep into the process.
That said, @trueurbanist makes a good point that these sorts of projects are nearly impossible to fund. It might all just be a moot point.
This would be planning for the future. In my view, the string of low-intensity light retail and manufacturing on the west side of Capital, all the way up to Iron Works and Midtown, is ripe for redevelopment with the Smoky Hollow Park-adjacent rezoning the first domino being nudged. The city seems to agree based on the Capital Blvd Corridor study (which also proposes extending West St to connect to Fairview) and Greenway Master Plan. The benefits to a ped+bike bridge here would be twofold:
If it’s ripe for redevelopment, let that happen first, and figure out where to spend money later. Nobody is going to move into an apartment sandwiched between a major arterial and a rail line because there is easy access to walk around in a SFH neighborhood.
In the meantime, build a sidewalk on Atlantic, and hang a no right on red sign at Harrington and Peace
No one is going to walk from Mordecai down to peace and then up to 5-points. And Atlantic is just as much out of the way. And neither route is particularly pedestrian or bike friendly.
If there’s not enough demand that anyone is willing to go a few blocks around, then why build a bridge? If the top 1% aren’t going the extra quarter mile then who are we building it for ?
Dude - Walking 3 miles for 1-1.5hrs along a pedestrian unfriendly route vs. walking 15-20 minutes across a pedestrian bridge. It’s comparing apples to coconuts.
People don’t do it now, because it’s easier to just drive and clog up downtown streets. But compare a 10-15 minute drive, vs. a 15-20 minute walk, or a 5-10 minute bike ride. It changes the game.
Plus it doesn’t account for various other users. Like folk trying to get downtown or to the Person St. area from the Mid-town / Crabtree creek greenway. Which is currently a horrible pedestrian / cycling experience. l
This would’ve been nice, but its not going to happen. Would have to bridge West up over Wade.
The rail line along the west side of capital needs to go. Reroute that over to the line running along the east side of capital. No reason to have rail lines on either side of capital in this stretch.
Would open up a ton of space for better connectivity and development. I know probably next to impossible with the entrenched rail companies, but would be a tremendous improvement to the area.
Actually, about 15 years ago Norfolk Southern did try to close its Glenwood freight yard (on the north side of Capital past Fairview) so that the property could be redeveloped. NS would love to monetize the real estate. But there has to be a freight yard somewhere, and NIMBYs in the Clayton area successfully fought off a proposal to build a new yard there. As long as Glenwood Yard remains in operation, the track west of Capital isn’t going anywhere. NS isn’t moving into the former SAL Cedar St Yard east of Capital because the yard has already been downsized substantially and it will be downsized further when SEHSR comes along. Besides, all those Mordecai people don’t want more railroad yard activity in their back yards.
In the end, I’d rather see the Person St. District fully activated and developed within its walk shed first before giving downtown residents a reason to leave the city center for a developer’s manufactured “urban” experience.
I think about how terrible this bill and its consequences are way too often. It needs to go. There was actually a bipartisan amendment a year or two ago to rescind the bike/ped rule, but it was a more junior republican who signed on and it got shot down. I’m hoping that, assuming the balance of power in the state government continues to shift leftward, this can be negotiated away somehow.
