Thanks @Patrick. I can’t say I have the mental capacity to get into this fight as I probably dislike all the options. At the same time though, if Ridge Road wants a solid connection to the other side of 440, they need to prepare to contribute to the traffic.
To be honest, (off the cuff idea) just close Ridge Road to car traffic over 440 and use the bridge for bike and ped only. If some kind of separated extension north of the beltline could easily get bikes and peds over to Crabtree Valley Avenue without conflict I think you’d have a great alternative connection for non-cars.
I don’t feel bad pitching this idea as so much land is given to moving so many cars nearby.
@dtraleigh Not trying to get into a fight either. I’m not a traffic engineer, but it seems to me that closing Ridge Road will result in more cars on Glen Eden and Blue Ridge Roads from locals who want to get to the mall.
I do think the entire crabtree mall area is lacking pedestrian access. This is why I did not like the options that bifurcated glenwood into northbound, north of the mall and southbound, south of the mall.
This is my route into downtown everyday for work and I can’t even fathom how much of a cluster this area is going to be once they start this project (not to mention the potential redevelopment of the Sears corner at Creedmoor if those timelines are similar). The interchange is a major choke point during the afternoon commute and the construction is going to make it even worse. No idea what the right answer is, but I 'm going to find a new way into downtown once they start it!
Honestly, I’d be perfectly happy if they closed one side of Glenwood to cars and turned it into a dedicated transit line from the mall (which could be a perfect transit hub) to Five Points or even Peace.
Jeff Mann is stepping down as CEO of GoTriangle at the end of July. As a casual observer, it seemed like he did a respectable job, but I sure hope they find a replacement that can push transit forward in the region.
I’ve been thinking about this for a bit, and I’m wondering if this could actually help to make this interchange less of a dumpster fire?
What about having a transitway that’s open for buses, as well? Basically open to anyone except personal vehicles/taxis/rideshare services so congestion won’t be an issue.
Something like this, maybe (but with a branch of the transit corridor going off to Ridge Rd.)?
A lot of good things he accomplished were major steps in the right direction for public transit in the Triangle. But at the same time… my god, the sheer number of project mis-management problems (#NeverForgetDOLRT)
Fingers crossed the next permanent leader has the right chops.
My experience with Barcelona isn’t so positive, but I’ve been there mainly for the annual Mobile World Congress that attracts 100,000 attendees, not to mention the support staffs and temporary workers. I learned to stay in a hotel at the Madrid airport and commute to Barcelona daily for the trade show.
I’m not sure where else to post this so perhaps Wake Transit Plan is it. @dtraleigh, if this is more appropriate elsewhere, please feel free to move me around.
I got some very interesting information from a credible source around downtown traffic over the last decade and a half and I think most of you will find it almost hard to believe. The traffic study comes from a legitimate firm that is prominent in Raleigh.
The following traffic data is from 2003 through 2017 with the business stats being from 2017.
77 employees per acre: more than any other office submarket in the Triangle
800+ business located downtown
19% growth in employees in the past 7 years
Downtown Raleigh already has doubled the number of housing units since 2000 and is poised to triple the number of units by 2020, if the current pipeline of residential projects is built out. Presently downtown has an estimated 5,700+ units and will have approximately 7,600 units within the next five years.
*Downtown Raleigh’s current population is an estimated 8,200 residents. Within one mile of downtown’s center point, the current population is an estimated 16,500. Downtown’s population is projected to be over 11,000 residents by 2022. Also by 2022, 19,640 residents will reside within one mile of downtown’s center with an opportunity for even more growth if the present rate of development continues.
Now for the really interesting data, traffic (based on AADT or Average Annual Daily Traffic):
Net Change from 2003 to 2017 is 5600
Percent increase from 2003 to 2017 is 2.00%
Annual % increase from 2003 to 2017 is 0.14%
If you break that down to the last 2 years of the study:
Net Change from 2015 to 2017 is -5800
Percent increase from 2015 to 2017 is -1.99%
Annual % increase from 2015 to 2017 is -1.00%
Again, the annual Downtown Raleigh percent increase in traffic was 0.14% year over year from 2003 to 2017.
I got these stats this morning and shared them early in the Q/A tonight at the North Central CAC meeting regarding the Zimmer project at Peace/Capital and there were no traffic questions after that. The only questions that preceded my stats was a lady wanting to know what the ingress/egress was and how cars and buses would interact with the building.
If anyone is interested in hopping on my Twitter traffic poll:
It’s already making my point for me. NIMBY voices complain about traffic in Raleigh but it’s not downtown. It’s at the beltway and further because those people HAVE to drive their cars. DTR mixed use isn’t contributing but maybe nominally.
My only experience with rush hour traffic in and around downtown is mainly in the mornings as I typically take my daughter to daycare and then come back for work. When we have big conventions, Saunders is choked up a bit but that’s really all I see. I’ve sometimes seen slowness on Capital southbound during rush hour mornings but I imagine that’s only for an hour or so.
DTR doesn’t really have that gridlock that other cities have. Last I was told, the DTR office market is only 10% of the Triangle commercial real estate market. RTP is the juggernaut and has the most pull in terms of traffic. This gives Raleigh the benefit (disadvantage?) of having reverse rush hour traffic.
My coworkers who live in Cary and come to DTR say they have no issue with the traffic because they are going in the opposite direction. FWIW, we have plenty of capacity for incoming commuters at the moment, more so when BRT and commuter rail start rolling.
I would say “other” as US-1-64 headed into Raleigh in the am, everyday and if it rains or has an accident. You can be prepared to sit and hope that you have enough gas…
DTR is so dang tiny. There are no issues with traffic in downtown proper. There are only a few high density streets and if you close your eyes for 5 minutes you will be through the city end to end. If you live and work downtown you have it made. It’s only he people that come in from 2 miles on out that have some issues.
If you want to spend money do it on the airport. That place is exploding and it’s a nightmare. The qty of people coming in and out in a day is 3 times the size of Raleigh’s downtown work force.
I have never in 15 years had any issues coming and going into this miniature downtown except New Years and parades.
