Raleigh Downtown Living Advocates

Category: City Government (Page 7 of 15)

One Month to Weigh-in on Plans for Capital Blvd Corridor

March 19, 2012 /

The opening statement of the Capital Blvd Corridor Study Report describes it as “the most travelled and least-loved gateway into Downtown Raleigh.” Now is the time to consider options that will make this road system into an entranceway that invites a more pleasant, pedestrian and commuter friendly gateway into Downtown.

The city has just issued its updated vision and recommendations for the corridor, and opened a one month public comment period.

  • Download the report here.
  • Ways to submit comments listed here.

It’s a 65 page report, so I’ve identified some of the key items likely to be of most interest for residents who live, work or play in the northern end of Downtown Raleigh, in and around the Peace Street Corridor.

Capital Blvd Interchange at Peace Street

The present speed limit and design of the roadway make it difficult to safely access businesses adjacent to the southern end of Capital Blvd, and for pedestrians within the Peace Street corridor.

Recommendation: Integrate this area with the urban grid by extending Johnson Street and Harrington Streets as a “quadrant roadway interchange”. Reference page 30 in the report.

Devereux Park

Devereux Meadow

The area on the northwest corner of Peace Street and Capital Blvd was once a baseball stadium, and until recently the home of the City’s Solid Waste Services Department.  The adjacent West Street is “off the beaten path” with very little car and pedestrian traffic.

Recommendation: Create a new park and greenway trail straddling a restored Pigeon House Branch at Devereux Meadows between Wade and Peace Streets.  Reference page 44 in the report.

 

Recommendation: Extend West Street north to Wake Forest Road to create a local access street that would run adjacent to the park and form an alternative route into Downtown Raleigh.

Future Residential / Business Growth

This road configuration promises a huge impact on the growth of the northern end of Downtown. By improving the infrastructure of access roads, the city can both restore vitality to an area that is presently under-utilized and support centers of commerce like Seaboard Station.  Case in point is the current State of Seaboard Station.

Recommendation: Facilitate pedestrian and bicycle access and improve traffic safety along the Peace Street Corridor.  Reference the associated Peace Street Visioning Study.

I applaud the city for acknowledging the need for “significant changes to the infrastructure of the corridor, not just land use policies.”

Take the time to read through this important report.  The study’s recommendations will truly shape the walking and biking accessibility of Downtown residents to local businesses,  with the first cluster of projects labelled the “downtown express” (page 51).

In my view, restoring the Peace Street intersection to the grid is a necessary first step to creating a new Capital Blvd.

Previous DLA blog posts relating to Capital Blvd:

Peace Street Corridor: Picture a “complete street” with a new park and greenway connections

Re-Imagining Capital Boulevard

Pigeon House Branch, A ‘New” Downtown Raleigh Waterway

Glenwood South’s Northeast Corner – Frontier of Possibility

UDO Update: Raleigh Planning Commission to begin their review on March 13.

March 8, 2012 /

The Planning Commission begins its review of Raleigh’s new development regulations, the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) draft, on Tuesday, March 13.  The Commission will meet weekly for the next 14 weeks, including 3 evening meetings, which will provide more opportunities for public participation.  The complete schedule is available here.  Each chapter in the schedule is linked to the PDF file for the chapter.

WHAT: Meeting #1, a review of Chapter 1: Introductory Provisions. This chapter describes 8 building types and includes a table showing what building types are allowed in each zoning district.

WHEN: Tuesday, March 13, immediately after the completion of the regular Planning Commission meeting. The UDO review will probably begin between 10:30 and 11:00 am. You can monitor the status of the meeting on RTN11, channel 11 on the Time Warner Cable Network.

WHERE: 222 West Hargett Street, City Council Chamber

Comments can be submited to Christine Darges, Christine.Darges@raleighnc.gov

Phone: (919) 516-2634

Resource Links:

Your Help Needed To Restore Walk Raleigh – Please sign their petition today!

March 4, 2012 /

On Tuesday, March 6th at 1:00pm, the Raleigh City Council will vote on whether or not Walk Raleigh will be restored as a pedestrian wayfinding system in downtown Raleigh. 

The project has received local, national and international attention, promoting innovation, walking and healthy lifestyles.  

We need YOUR HELP to show City Council how supportive the community is for the signs to be re-installed. 

 

– – Click here to add your name to the petition – –

 

Read the press:

City Puts an End to Guerrilla “Walk Raleigh” Campaign

Official [Planning Director, Mitch Silver] wants city to reserrect “Walk Raleigh”

 

Learn more about the project at Walk-Raleigh.com

 

County Transit Plan Moving Forward – Vote YES this fall

February 8, 2012 /

The Wake County Transit Plan is moving through the review process among the county municipalities, including a review with the Raleigh City Council yesterday.

Details of the plan are taking shape since our last update on this blog, so here’s what we know now.

The Wake County Transit Plan has been divided into two parts, with the Core Plan supported by local funding, and the enhanced plan requiring State and Federal funding.

This table shows you the What, When, and Where…

And Why . . .

The Why is fairly obvious given that the City of Raleigh and Wake County will have ANOTHER MILLION PEOPLE moving here in the next 20-25 years, who will compete with existing residents for space on roads and land (housing).

Two opportunities promise to help meet the requirements of this expanded population.
  1. We need to give people a choice of using public transit rather than their cars to avoid adding to our own personal cost and time due to major road congestion.
  2. Light Rail encourages higher density housing development around train stations, needed to provide a cost effective use of our limited land and energy resources.

Next Steps

  1. Transit authorities continue to seek input from Wake County municipalities.
  2. Final Wake County Transit Plan submitted in May/June this year.
  3. County Commissioners vote to approve referendum on local sales tax.
  4. Referendum held in November this year.
  5. Yes vote is a GO to begin executing the Core Plan.
  6. Continue to compete nationally for Federal Funds to support the Enhanced Plan.

Thank you for your support of Raleigh as it grows in accordance to the visioning of residents, businesses and local government who continue to balance growth with quality of life.  Change is inevitable, but with informed citizens, we can shape it to make Raleigh a model for connection, sustainability and vitality.

Resource Links

Peace Street Corridor: Picture a “complete street” with new park and greenway connections

December 11, 2011 /

Anyone who has traveled by foot, car or bike along Peace Street near the interchange with Capital Boulevard knows the difficulty of navigating this congested area.  There’s no question that it’s badly in need of a make over.  Good news!  There are plans underway to not just fix problems, but to transform this northern end of Downtown Raleigh into an attractive, vibrant place to live, work and play.

What starts with required bridge replacements over Peace Street, ends up driving a huge redevelopment opportunity with a new city park.

Here’s what’s in store.

 

It all starts with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) replacing the “structurally deficient and functionally obsolete” Peace Street bridge.  Built in 1948, the bridge is nearing its useful life, so this action is unavoidable.  A public hearing on the bridge replacement project is planned for fall 2012, with construction projected to start in 2016.

Roundabout OptionIn conjunction with replacing the bridge, there is an urgent need to rethink the the interchange with Capital Boulevard, which carries 54,000 vehicles per day, forecasted to increase to 77,000 vehicles.  Various new loops are being considered, including using roundabouts.


In reworking the vehicle interchange, the new NCDOT policy “complete streets” requires new street designs to accommodate all users, including pedestrians and bicycles.  So while pedestrians and bikers navigate this area at their own risk today, in the future they’ll be able to take advantage of the new Downtown greenway connection.   
 

 

This downtown area is set to become a link to the greenway system and hub for rail stations.

We talked about the 3-mile greenway that will connect the Crabtree Creek Greenway and the Downtown in our previous post Re-Imagining Capital Boulevard.  Here is a map of a proposed route.

This area of Peace Street is also featured prominently in the city’s rail plans, as the location for both commuter and light rail stations.  The commuter rail station is to be located at Peace Street (Seaboard), and the light rail (Government station) would be located on nearby Harrington Avenue.
   
Now consider adding a park!  

      

Devereux ParkDid you know that Devereux Meadows, located on the area bounded by North West Street, Peace Street and Capital Boulevard, was once a minor league baseball field?  Today the area, where development is limited by the fact that it sits on a flood plain, is used by the city to park their waste services trucks and other utility vehicles.  But the city agrees that this under-utilized area is perfect for an urban park, featuring a restoration of Pigeon House Branch waterway.  Imagine a new downtown waterway with the new greenway running alongside. 

 

Once transformed, the area will become a magnet for redevelopment.

 

This new pedestrian-friendly area with nearby transit and green space will become very attractive for redevelopment.  The Peace Street Visioning Study laid out some ideas for high density redevelopment, including the realignment of Harrington Street to intersect with Peace Street and create new development lots.

 

The adjacent area along the northern end of West Street is also prime for redevelopment.  In addition to running alongside the new “Devereux Park”, the City Planning Department has identified West Street to become a future north-south connector into the city and major link to Union Station.  Plans include the realignment of North West Street to favor development north of Peace Street, extending the street to Fairview Road.

 

And finally, we can also imagine the Peace Street Corridor transformation becoming a driver to spark the redevelopment of the adjacent area on Glenwood South’s northeast corner. We talked about this “Frontier of Possibility” in a previous blog post.

This is just one more example of how Raleigh city government, residents and businesses are shaping the quality of Downtown life.  As a resident, I look forward to walking with my granddaughters on this greenway, feeding ducks in Pigeon Creek, and popping on the light rail to have a bite of lunch.  I look at the view from my condo terrace at 510 Glenwood and feel excited about all I know is coming.

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