Raleigh Downtown Living Advocates

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Calling Walkers, Bikers, and Commuters! Vote YES for Raleigh’s Transportation Bond on October 11

October 1, 2011 /

The Raleigh City Council is asking Raleigh voters to approve a $40 million transportation bond, placing the bond proposal on the October 11 municipal election ballot. This is Raleigh’s first Multi-Modal Transportation Bond that includes funding for a rail transit hub, upgrading Moore’s Square Transit Center, transit benches and shelters, greenways, bike lanes, streetscapes and sidewalks.  

These new projects and improvements to the public transportation network are critical to the ongoing revitalization of Downtown Raleigh.  

The DLA encourages residents to spread the word to vote “Yes” for the Transportation bond.

Here’s what you should know:

Union Station: New Rail Transit Platform  

$3M in city funds would be matched by State and Federal funds totaling $20-25M to be used for the first phase development of the facility.  

The old Dillion Supply building at the west end of Martin Street in Downtown Raleigh’s Warehouse District is targeted for the new transit platform or rail hub, as talked about 3 months ago.

Moore Square Transit Facility: Transform and Renovate Facility

According to City of Raleigh Transit Administrator David Eatman, “We are talking about a total makeover.”  The improvements would include improved waiting areas and pedestrian walkways, better vehicle flow from Wilmington Street to Blount Street, and increased bus capacity.

The DLA talked to David Eatman last December about the Master Plan for the Moore Square Bus Station. Here’s what we learned.

Greenways: Connecting Existing Sections

  • Walnut Creek Extension: This is the final link in the 100+ miles of interconnected greenways running throughout the city. This section connects Walnut Creek Greenway (accessible to downtowners via the Chavis Greenway) from the Wetland Center to the Neuse River Greenway.  By the end of next year, the Neuse River Greenway will span 30 miles along the Neuse River, becoming the longest Greenway in North Carolina.  ‘Mr. Greenway’, Sig Hutchinson says, “It’s a very Big Deal!”
  • Rosengarten Greenway: The greenway would be a key connection between the Rocky Branch / Walnut Creek Greenway to the south and the Lenoir Street Park and Boylan Heights neighborhoods to the north.  Because it will connect to existing, already-popular routes, everyone who wants to use the greenway system benefits from increased connectivity into Downtown. 

Streetscape improvements 

  • South / Lenior Project: The South/Lenoir project would complete the two-way conversion of the corridor that began several years ago from S. Saunders Street to East Street.  
  • Blount / Person Corridor Planning: The Blount/Person corridor study will look at land use and transportation options for the corridor from Capital Boulevard to I-40, including segments along Wake Forest Road and Hammond Road.   

Bicycle Lane Improvements 

The Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Commission has a comprehensive list of bike projects to complete as funding becomes available.  Downtown Raleigh, with its concentration of bike traffic is where there is the greatest need for improved access. 

Come join us at the Public Event on Oct 4th in Nash Square to rally support for the bond!

Additional information: 

Citizens Supporting Raleigh

City of Raleigh: Q&A document

 

Note: A separate $16M Housing Bond proposal will also be on the October 11 ballot.  The Housing Bond will be voted on separately from the Transportation Bond, and support ongoing programs for first-time homebuyers, low-interest loans to private developers of affordable apartments, neighborhood revitalization, and tornado relief assistance for low income homeowners. 


New High Speed Rail Alignment (NC5) Through Downtown Raleigh Addresses Earlier Concerns

September 15, 2011 /

The NCDOT has developed a new high speed rail alignment in response to concerns expressed last summer from residents and businesses in and around Downtown Raleigh.  The public is invited to attend a Project Update Meeting on Tuesday, Sept 27th from 4 till 7 PM at the Raleigh Convention Center, 500 S. Salisbury Street to learn about this new rail alternative developed for the SEHSR corridor.

To get you up to speed for the meeting, here’s what you need to know to catch up to the issues involved.

Where we left off last summer

Two official alignments were proposed last summer by the NCDOT, and another was developed by a group of citizens.

  • NC1&2: This alignment faced the most opposition from the City of Raleigh and Downtown residents due to the disruption of traffic and impact on pedestrian connections brought about by the required closing of West and Harrington Streets in Glenwood South.
  • NC3: While supported by most Downtown residents, Norfolk Southern and residents in neighborhoods north of Peace Street joined forces against this alignment.  Norfolk Southern didn’t want the new trains disrupting their facilities, and residents were concerned about noise and vibration.
  • NC4 Avoidance Alternative:  This hybrid alignment was developed by group of citizens, attempting to minimize the opposition from residents and businesses from the other two alignments.

Take a look at this map showing the three alignments.

Following a public hearing last September, the City Council requested NCDOT to formally study the feasibility of NC4 and/or develop other alignments to minimize the issues raised by residents and businesses.

For more background on this topic see the links at the end of this post.

Click to enlarge
What’s Different with NC5?
Responding to the request from City Council, NCDOT developed a new alignment called NC5 that pushes the Capital Boulevard crossing about 4 blocks further north than what had been proposed under the NC4 alignment, as seen in this photo.

 

 

Advantages

  1. This time the new tracks are fully separate from the Norfolk Southern tracks, which was necessary to gain the support of Norfolk Southern that was consulted throughout the design process.
  2. The location of the rail crossing over Capital Boulevard means that fewer homes and businesses north of Peace Street are affected as compared to the NC3 alignment.  Additionally, Fairview Road would not be closed, and the new high speed rail tracks would be laid east of the current freight tracks and further away from existing homes.
  3. This route avoids the concerns expressed by Downtown residents over the required road closures under the NC1&2 alignment, and also avoids the need for new elevated tracks crossing over an important future redevelopment area in Glenwood South.

Disadvantages

  1. Although fewer homes would be affected, there may be continued concerns about noise and vibration from a 4 block area of homes immediately adjacent to the existing freight tracks in the Glenwood-Brooklyn neighborhood.
  2. Using separate tracks is a missed opportunity for opening up pedestrian movement within a 4-block area between Peace Street and North Street, where earth berms holding up the Norfolk Southern tracks block potential beautification of the area.
  3. The NC5 crossing over Capital Boulevard would require a 700 foot long bridge over six lanes of traffic, which will likely have a higher price tag, even with the lower right- of-way expenses.

Next Steps

  • NCDOT is holding a public comment session on September 27th at the Civic Center, and they will be hosting a table at the Capital Boulevard Corridor Open House on the 29th.
  • Although not required as part of the SEHSR Project Environment Impact Study (EIS), the mayor is likely to ask the City Council for a formal recommendation on the high speed rail alignment based on this new information from NCDOT.
  • Once the EIS process is complete, it is expected to take several more years to secure Federal funding and complete construction, with 2018-2022 as the goal for passenger service to begin.

Conclusion: This alternative appears to go a long way towards addressing many of the concerns that were raised in public hearings last summer.  The NC5 still presents some proximity issues to Mordecai and impacts businesses along West Street, but clearly efforts are being made by the NCDOT to listen to what residents and businesses prefer.  The DLA is also grateful to the City Council that has taken additional time to weigh what is best for Raleigh’s future. 

Here are some past and recent articles on this topic for further reading:

 

Mosaic Fall Music Fest 2011: Fall into the sound Sept. 15 – 24

September 9, 2011 /

For the third year in a row, Raleigh’s Mosaic Wine et Lounge will present its ever growing seasonal dance music festival — staying true to form and raising the ambitious bar of innovative, live entertainment in the Triangle.  

Over the course of 10 straight nights, this veteran club recognized for its dedication to bringing world-wide flavors of sensational sound to the Triangle dance music and entertainment scene promises a detailed pairing of internationally renowned DJs and producers intermixed with Triangle and North Carolina-based talent.

Keith Ward, resident Mosaic DJ and MFMF Program Director has crafted an experience that he intends to be as intoxicating for the visiting DJs as it will be for the reveling dancers in attendance. 

“Since the inception of this festival in 2009, the goal has been to create an environment that not only allows the audience to interact with world-class DJs in an up close and personal way, but to also bring to the Triangle the same energy and cultural movements of sound that are happening all over the globe in major markets.  To have a dance experience in such an intimate space like Mosaic with these creative talents just doesn’t happen everyday,” notes Ward.  “For local and surrounding area audiences that can’t travel to London’s Fabric or New York’s Cielo or Miami’s Mansion to get into the sound of this caliber, this is for you.” 

With up to 75 artists currently programmed, the vibe will range from Deep House to Techno to Down Tempo to various forms of EDM with each thematic evening offering a variation of outdoor patio and indoor house sets grooving simultaneously.    

Fresh off tours of duty in L.A., N.Y., D.C., Oslo, Berlin, and Buenos Aires the not-to-be-missed headliners leading this semi-annual festival of infectious grooves include the following:

Sabo — www.solselectas.com.

Halo —  www.citydeepmusic.com/halo. 

Julius the Mad Thinker – www.themadthinker.com.

Fei-Fei – www.djfei-fei.com.

For more information on the event and the Mosaic Wine Lounge visit their Facebook page. 
 
Spread the word . . Here’s the event flyer.

 

Information for this post provided by Keith Ward, Mosaic Wine Lounge

 

 


 

 

 

Compost Now Composts Now, Today, and Immediately

August 31, 2011 /

Downtown residents should take note of a new startup that’s operating in the triangle and customers are already participating here in downtown Raleigh. As you are probably aware, the city and county take care of our trash and recyclables but currently do very little, if anything, in collecting our compostable materials. All of that organic matter can be put to use and after talking it over with Matt Rostetter, mastermind behind the Raleigh startup Compost Now, there is a big benefit to our neighborhood if all that organic trash was collected.

Compost Now is currently serving customers around Raleigh but Matt has a vision for bringing the service to a new level. To acheive his goals, new customers can join on the company’s Ripple campaign site, where monetary pledges help Compost Now reach their goals and give you a discount on the service for helping back it. The link to the Ripple campaign is:

Compost Now Fundraiser via Ripple.com

The service is simple. For a monthly fee, residents would receive a bin to place all their compostable trash in and it is collected every week, replaced by a fresh bin. The advantage to this service compared to similar ones in other cities is that Compost Now will give you fresh soil in return.

Matt estimates that for every two pounds of materials collected, residents would be entitled to one pound of soil. You can request soil at any time and have it delivered anywhere. So even if you won’t use it at home, you can send your soil to a local urban farm. Downtown residents should note the upcoming Raleigh City Farm and the many Community Supported Agriculture services could be potential recipients of your soil.

In the near future, Matt envisions a website showing users statistics including how much weight in trash has been kept out of landfills, how much soil you are entitled to and other data to really bring people into using the service. Travelers shouldn’t worry as the service can be put on hold when out of town. You won’t be charged for not using the service for those weeks and you can schedule when bins should start showing up again at your door.

Compost Now is a resident based composting service which keeps waste out of landfills and can really supply our neighborhood community gardens with the soil they need. Check out the campaign for this growing Raleigh startup.

Strong Support For Food Trucks By DLA Membership

August 25, 2011 /

The state of eating and drinking continues to change and expand here in Downtown Raleigh. New restaurants are opening while others are re-inventing themselves. It’s just part of the always growing revitalization that is happening here and residents are enjoying it in a big way.

A new twist on the food scene for downtown is the food trucks. The City of Raleigh is wrestling with ways to allow them to operate in our city fairly and safely. The debate has continued on for more than a year and the Downtown Living Advocates are making a case for the city to finally amend its zoning permits to allow food trucks to operate in downtown Raleigh with limitations on placement.

Click through the slides for a brief overview of the survey results and ideas.

A recent poll of DLA members shows a mix of responses supporting food trucks with and without certain limitations. The main concerns for DLA members are operating hours and places of operation.

Food truck support comes from well over 95 percent of the DLA responses, but members felt differently on the issue. The first concern about food trucks is where they operate. This is the second largest response (30 percent) after the most popular option of no restrictions. (39 percent) Only a small amount, 5 percent, felt that hours were the only concern about the food trucks in downtown.

Nineteen percent of respondants favored restrictions on both placement and hours of operation. Finally, only about 6 percent of members wanted food trucks only during major events or not at all.

The data speaks for itself: DLA residents of Downtown Raleigh want food trucks operating in our center city.

The DLA Supports The 100-foot Rule.
There are some food business owners within downtown who have expressed concern about the operation of the food trucks here and how it may affect their business. The DLA is in support of the 100-foot rule that has been discussed by city council. This rule limits the operation of a food truck to areas outside of 100 feet away from the front door of a restaurant. We feel this rule would be fair to both our current neighbors and those who wish to operate here soon.

The DLA has created a visual map of downtown Raleigh, showing surface parking lots and an approximate area of where those food truck operation areas would be under the 100-foot rule. Please refer to the map below.

Purple = Downtown Raleigh, Yellow = surface lots, Red = 100 foot area, no truck operation
All distances approximate. Click for a larger view.

The map helps us visualize what the future operation of food trucks could be under the 100-foot rule. It is important to notice that the Glenwood South area and Fayetteville Street are completely covered in red, meaning no food trucks will be allowed in this area. This then creates a fair operating environment to a majority of downtown’s food businesses, which are in these areas.

The surface parking lots, shown in yellow, present an opportunity for food trucks. These lots are typically underutilized for most hours of the day and can then be re-used during off-peak hours. The food trucks can park in those lots, outside of the area created by the 100-foot rule, and bring activity to an area that typically sees little traffic or pedestrian activity. The DLA encourages the city to look into this option so a compromise can be made.

DLA residents are all neighbors with the businesses in downtown Raleigh and support a fair compromise with the 100-foot rule. We encourage everyone, member or not, to write to the Raleigh City Council to voice their opinion on this matter. Please copy and paste the letter below and send it to the entire city council at the below e-mail address to let them know where you stand.

citycouncilors@raleighnc.gov

Support Food Trucks In Raleigh

Dear Raleigh City Council,

I am writing to you today to urge you to take a closer look at the ongoing food truck debate and to please support the operation of food trucks in Raleigh. Along with the clear support of the Downtown Living Advocates (DLA), a resident-based group in Raleigh, I, too, support the food trucks in my city. I encourage you to visit this link and see the DLA’s results and thoughts on the issue.

Strong Support For Food Trucks By DLA Membership via RaleighDLA.com (http://theraleighcommons.org/raleighdla//home/2011/8/25/strong-support-for-food-trucks-by-dla-membership.html)

I support a compromise between food truck and food businesses with the 100-foot rule so that each can operate fairly in our city. I feel that the surface parking lots all over Raleigh are very underutilized and pairing them with mobile food options makes a lot of sense.

Please come to a conclusion on this issue and support this growing food industry in our city.

Regards,
Raleigh Citizen

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